Harasym L. Theoretical and Methodological Principles of Hryhoriy Nudha’s Folkloristic Conception.

The thesis is the first complex and holistic analysis of the process of shaping the scholarly humanitarian outlook, the range of research interests and theoretical and methodological principles of Hryhoriy Nudha’s folkloristic conception. Based on the analysis of historiographical material, the development stages, local centres and areas of research in modern Nudha Studies have been outlined. The author has traced out the stages of the scholar’s outlook development, determined the range of his academic interests, collected and systematized the theoretical and methodological principles of Nudha’s folkloristic research and principles of his work as a folklore collector and editor. With due regard of theoretical conclusions and practical findings of predecessor folklorists, the list of issues addressed in his explorations has been finalized and the distinctive features of his folkloristic conception have been delineated. The thesis presents Nudha’s most significant achievements and findings which consisted in particular in identifying little known facts on integration of Ukrainian folk songs in the foreign cultural space and offers an analysis of his theoretical considerations on distinctive features of the folk ballad and chumak song in the context of Ukrainian and world lyro-epic tradition. A profound analysis of Nudha’s reception of folklore-literature relationships (folklorization of authored texts of Ukrainian classical writers) has been conducted and his innovative vision of the Ukrainian laughter culture has been identified. Attention has been drawn to the scholar’s academic potential in terms of source studies, as his activity was never unidirectional and varied depending on the issue in question. The thesis determines the role and impact of Nudha’s folkloristic studies on further academic pursuits in this area in Ukraine.