Everyday practices of Opishnia potters in the 1940s–1960s in the context of the activities of leading pottery centers of Ukraine: a historiographical review

Abstract

The article analyzes the historiography of studies on the everyday life of potters in the Ukrainian SSR, using the Opishnya pottery center as a case study. The aim is to identify the main stages in the formation of scholarly interpretations of social, domestic, labor, and cultural aspects of potters’ everyday life in the 1940s–1960s and to assess the extent to which this issue has been addressed in Soviet and contemporary Ukrainian scholarship. The research is based on the principles of historicism and interdisciplinarity and employs historiographical, problem-chronological, comparative, and source-critical methods. Works by art historians, ethnographers, and historians, as well as archival materials, memoirs, and periodicals, are analyzed to trace changes in research emphases under different socio-political conditions.

The article demonstrates that Soviet-era studies of Opishnya pottery were shaped by Marxist-Leninist methodology and were largely ideologized, focusing mainly on artistic production and industrial organization, while potters’ everyday life remained marginal. At the same time, some scholars recorded valuable information on material conditions, labor practices, family traditions, and social interactions. The role of museum-based and field research during the perestroika period and in independent Ukraine is emphasized as crucial for expanding the source base and developing a more comprehensive understanding of potters’ everyday life. It is concluded that only in contemporary Ukrainian historiography has a tendency emerged toward integrated studies of the socio-economic, domestic, and cultural dimensions of pottery centers, highlighting the relevance of further research on potters’ life-worlds in the context of Soviet social transformations.