Ihnatenko, I. (2014). Zhinoche tilo u tradytsiinii kulturi ukraintsiv [The female body in the traditional culture of Ukrainians] (3rd rev. and enl. ed.). Intelektualna knyha. (Seriia “Etnolohiia dlia doroslykh” [Series: Ethnology for Adults])
Annotation: This scholarly monograph by Iryna Ihnatenko, Candidate of Historical Sciences (PhD equivalent) and Associate Professor at Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, addresses the most taboo dimensions of traditional culture: female physiology and reproductive health, the particularities of intimate relations and sexual hygiene in rural culture, methods of contraception and termination of unwanted pregnancy, women’s and venereal diseases, and the menopausal stage of women’s physiological cycle — all examined through an ethnological lens. Only some of these topics have previously received scholarly attention, and even then only in fragmentary fashion. Ukrainian ethnological scholarship has at last shed its reticence and filled a significant gap in the scholarly discourse on folk culture. The study is grounded exclusively in primary evidence: materials (largely introduced into scholarly circulation for the first time) gathered by the author through fieldwork, supplemented by data from printed sources and archives.
The monograph is richly illustrated with materials from the National Center of Folk Culture “Ivan Honchar Museum,” reproductions of works from the National Art Museum of Ukraine, and reproductions from the National Museum of Taras Shevchenko.
Iryna Ihnatenko’s The Female Body in the Traditional Culture of Ukrainians has stirred considerable debate in Ukrainian academic life through its scholarly boldness and honesty. At the same time, it makes for an illuminating and captivating read for a broad audience, stripping away the veneer of false pastoralism from folk culture and presenting it as a complex yet richly multifaceted phenomenon.
