Genres & Forms
Duma
The duma is a genre of Ukrainian heroic epic — a lyric-epic song of the Cossack era, performed by kobzars and lirnyks to the accompaniment of the kobza, bandura, or lira (hurdy-gurdy). A duma has uneven, non-syllabic verse, verb-based rhyme, a recitative manner of delivery, and a division into ustupy (verse periods of irregular length). Its themes are Turkish-Tatar captivity, the liberation struggle, and Cossack life. Classic examples: 'Duma about Marusia Bohuslavka,' 'The Captives' Lament,' 'Duma about the Cossack Holota,' 'The Flight of Three Brothers from the City of Azov.' Dumas were recorded and studied by Panteleimon Kulish, Volodymyr Antonovych, and Mykhailo Drahomanov; their melodies were transcribed and studied by Mykola Lysenko and recorded on phonograph by Filaret Kolessa. The Safeguarding programme of kobza and wheel lyre tradition is inscribed on UNESCO's Register of Good Safeguarding Practices (2024).
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Distinction
Two lyric-epic folklore genres differing in structure and theme. The duma is heroic epic of the Cossack era with uneven verse, recitative and kobzar performance to the bandura; it celebrates captivity, the liberation struggle, Cossack life. The folk ballad is a song with a dramatically tense FAMILY or love plot (betrayal, poisoning, metamorphosis), strophic in structure and with a tragic denouement. The duma is about history and community; the ballad, about private tragedy.
