Transformation of the Bawdy Songs Tradition in the 20th – 21st Centuries: from Traditional Songs to Internet Folklore

The relevance of the study is due to the need to understand the deep transformations of the Ukrainian bawdy songs tradition in the conditions of medialization and digitalization of culture, which fundamentally change its forms, functions and ways of existence. Purpose of the article. The article is aimed at a comprehensive study of the transformations of the Ukrainian bawdy songs tradition in the 20th – 21st centuries, tracing the transition from established oral forms to the latest digital manifestations of Internet folklore. The work uses a corpus of traditional bawdy songs from printed and electronic folklore collections, materials of modern Internet folklore (memes, short jokes, digital retellings, video content), as well as scientific works devoted to the transformations of laughter and physical culture. The methodological basis of the study is a structural-functional analysis, a comparative-historical approach, content analysis of digital texts and elements of cultural-anthropological interpretation. Results. It has been determined that the Ukrainian bawdy song tradition in the 20th – 21st centuries underwent significant transformations under the influence of socio-cultural, moral-value, communicative and media changes, which gradually changed its functioning and forms of existence. The transition from ritually driven collective performance to digital formats has contributed to the emergence of new hybrid genre models, in particular internet memes, video parodies internet memes, video parodies and fragmented texts. The generalization of key factors demonstrated that contemporary internet creativity not only modifies traditional motifs and poetics, but also shapes a new space for their cultural existence in the global media environment. A comprehensive analysis of modern Internet forms of bawdy folklore has been carried out and their specificity in the conditions of digital culture has been determined. The features of memes, digital retellings, video content and anonymous texts have been considered, their genre characteristics, mechanisms of variability and multimedia construction have been determined. The key communicative differences of the network environment have been identified, which determine new functions, forms of existence and the hybrid nature of modern bawdy folklore. Conclusions. The results of the study can be used in folklore, cultural studies and media education courses, as well as in further studies of digital laughter culture and transformations of folk creativity.