Bokalo I. Ukrainian folk songs about love: moral and ethical aspect

The dissertation is the first in Ukrainian folklore research of folk songs about love in the aspect of national ethics and morality. The paper outlines models of embodying the moral and ethical values of Ukrainians, and identifies which violations of social norms most clearly found their coverage in folk songs about love. On the basis of the analysis of images, symbolism, poetic means, the national specificity of reflection of the ideal of youth behaviour is established. The research is based on the analysis of texts, their reconstruction, which contributes to the reproduction of the primary content of folklore work, understanding of its poetics, ideological and aesthetic orientation. Therefore, the appeal to the genre of love songs, in particular the definition of its moral and ethical paradigm, is promising and scientifically motivated. The analysed song material makes it possible to state that love lyrics generally correspond to the common law of moral and ethical norms, but the main motives of love songs are most often those that reflect conflict situations in which the feelings of lovers contradict the traditional norms of the 19th century – the beginning of the 20th. As a result of the study, based on the lyrics of folk songs about love, the national priorities of the Ukrainian youth in choosing a married couple were found out, the ideal scenario of the relationship of lovers for the wedding was outlined, as well as the actions of the heroes that led to violations of moral and ethical norms. The analysis of the texts proves that the songs of the studied genre reflect the multifaceted life of Ukrainian youth, a wide range of feelings, views on love, marriage, family, as well as loneliness, separation, betrayal, loss of wreath.