The mentality of the Bukovynian peasantry of the 18th – early 20th century

Abstract

In this article, the author focuses on the psychological characteristics of the Ukrainian peasantry of Bukovyna in the Austrian period The rural population of the region belonged to the traditional pre-industrial society, which directed all its efforts to the production and preservation food products. Accordingly, this society was completely alien to the Western idea that nature acts as a cognitive system, the successful study of which makes it possible to create effective technologies to improve their own well-being. The mentality of the peasantry of the period under study was characterized by archaism and conservatism of views on working conditions. Striving forward to satisfy everyday needs, they were not pragmatic masters who were oriented towards the long term or interested in the problems of the market economy. On a subconscious level, the owners slowly perceived innovations that did not fit into the traditional system of their views on methods housekeeping. Everyday life testifies to the isolation of the Bukovynian peasantry and the presence of a number of prejudices in relation to the moral and ethical behavior and interaction by representatives of other ethnic communities compactly living on the territory of the region. The spiritual world reflects the spontaneously materialistic views of the peasants both on nature as a whole and on individual natural phenomena, economy and everyday life.