The History of Research on Ukrainian Urban Festive Traditions

Relevance. Urban festivity in Ukraine remains insufficiently addressed compared to studies of rural traditional culture, yet it has considerable significance and participates in shaping urban identity and the contemporary cultural space. A high level of urbanisation, the context of war in present-day Ukraine, and the intensification of many social processes make the study of celebrations a topical and necessary issue for ethnological scholarship and related disciplines. Aim. The aim of the article is to analyse existing historiographical reviews and a wide range of publications by ethnologists, historians, and cultural scholars that concern urban festive culture; to determine how thoroughly the problem has been studied; to show how thematic emphases and theoretical frameworks have changed; and to outline priorities for further research. Methods. The study employs bibliographic search, source criticism, systematisation of historiographical materials, thematic and chronological classification of scholarly contributions in ethnology, history, and cultural studies, and content analysis of printed and digital textual sources. Results. The article examines the state of research on the traditions of celebration within the cultural space of the Ukrainian city. A number of historiographical reviews have been published previously; however, they do not cover the entire range of issues or focus on the general development of urban studies without addressing festivity as such. The paper presents an analysis of the methodological basis of research on celebrations and of the work of a wide circle of scholars who studied the festive culture of Ukrainian cities. A thematic scheme is proposed that defines the sequence of discussion and allows for a comprehensive view of urban festivity and its study. Theoretical approaches and methodological frameworks developed by Ukrainian researchers and by Western academic communities are considered. Priority directions for possible future research are substantiated. Conclusions. Urban festivity should be studied as a multi-level system of practices in which public celebrations, festivals, fairs, family rituals, and politics of memory and commemoration intersect. For the Ukrainian city, it is important to employ interdisciplinary sets of methods while developing and substantiating a clear scholarly approach. In further research, a key priority should remain the filling of chronological and thematic «white spots», the study of transformations, the interaction between contemporary globalised and traditional culture, and the contexts of war and recent social changes in the marking of holidays.