BANQUET AND ETIQUETTE: THE CULTURE OF THE GALICIAN FEASTING OF THE END OF THE XIXth – 30s OF THE XX CENTURY

Abstract

The article is devoted to the culture of feasting in the families of the Galician intelligentsia and burghers at the end of the XIXth – in the 30s of the XXth century. The sources of the research were the memories of contemporaries, as well as numerous cookbooks of the specified period.

The methodology is based on general scientific and special-historical methods: historical-genetic, comparative-historical, systemic-structural. Interview materials collected in the process of surveying old residents were used to confirm the facts.

Author aims to analyze the feasting culture of representatives of the Galician elite and burghers, namely the features of inviting and receiving guests, the role of hosts of entertainment, the basic rules of table manners. Traces how the rules of etiquette are reflected on the pages of cookbooks of the end of the XIXth – 30s of the

XXth century. Much attention is paid to Osypa Zaklinska (1894–1972), a teacher, organizer of women’s circles and economic courses in Galicia, author of the book “New Vitamin Kitchen” (1928). In matters of etiquette, she tried to combine European and national traditions, criticized outdated rules that had already lost relevance and lacked rationality.

According to the author, in the second half of the XXth century Ukrainians lost most of the culture of exquisite feasting, which was a consequence of the Soviet occupation. The new political regime fundamentally changed the life of the intellectual elite of the region and everything related to the arrangement of solemn family feasts. Orderliness and a clear daily routine were replaced by chaos, constant rallies, propaganda meetings. Not having the opportunity to satisfy their cultural needs, the representatives of the educated class were impo- verished materially and spiritually. In addition, many of them emigrated or were repressed.

Key words: etiquette, culture, traditions, cookbooks, intelligentsia, memories, Halychyna.