<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The article analyses changes in Ukrainian folk beliefs about the afterlife in the face of forced resettlement due to the construction of hydroelectric power stations and water reservoirs. During resettlement, folk beliefs were adapted to the conditions of the time, under the influence of Soviet atheism and propaganda. Later, especially since the independence of Ukraine, migrants have tried to restore the lost connection between the living and the dead by establishing and consecrating crosses on common graves in which the remains of former villagers are reburied. Today, narratives about the relocation of a cemetery express anxiety about the disturbance of the dead and the idea of the impossibility of complete resettlement from an ancient place of residence.</p>
</abstract>

The article analyses changes in Ukrainian folk beliefs about the afterlife in the face of forced resettlement due to the construction of hydroelectric power stations and water reservoirs. During resettlement, folk beliefs were adapted to the conditions of the time, under the influence of Soviet atheism and propaganda. Later, especially since the independence of Ukraine, migrants have tried to restore the lost connection between the living and the dead by establishing and consecrating crosses on common graves in which the remains of former villagers are reburied. Today, narratives about the relocation of a cemetery express anxiety about the disturbance of the dead and the idea of the impossibility of complete resettlement from an ancient place of residence.

“When They Moved the Cemetery…”: Hybridisation of Belief in the Afterlife After Flood Zone Resettlement in Ukraine

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The article analyses changes in Ukrainian folk beliefs about the afterlife in the face of forced resettlement due to the construction of hydroelectric power...

“When They Moved the Cemetery…”: Hybridisation of Belief in the Afterlife After Flood Zone Resettlement in Ukraine

Published Online: Dec 16, 2022

Page range: 187 - 199

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jef-2022-0018

Keywords
cemetery, beliefs about the afterlife, oral history, resettlement, common graves

© 2022 Iryna Koval-Fuchylo, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

“When They Moved the Cemetery…”: Hybridisation of Belief in the Afterlife After Flood Zone Resettlement in Ukraine

Published Online: Dec 16, 2022

Page range: 187 - 199

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jef-2022-0018

Keywordscemetery, beliefs about the afterlife, oral history, resettlement, common graves

© 2022 Iryna Koval-Fuchylo, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
cemetery, beliefs about the afterlife, oral history, resettlement, common graves