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The article discusses ethnographic studies of Russia and Ukraine in the period from 1991 to 2011, after the fall of the Soviet Union, from an anthropological perspective. Topics include a discussion of the methodologies of the fields of ethnography and anthropology, and the role of the researcher in maintaining a conversation with the informant, or participant, while gathering research; the methodology and debates which came up as a result of the fall of the Soviet Union, and its particular methodologies of gaining ethnographic information; and the primary themes that have arisen in research since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Magical efficacy has been important in Ukrainian wedding ritual. The korovai, rushnyk, omens, gifts, the showering of the couple, and other "sacred" objects and acts of the Ukrainian folk wedding are believed to be imbued with prophetic qualities. Uprooted folklore tradition, however, faces inevitable transformations, and Ukrainian immigrants in Canada tend to know and believe in magical objects and actions significantly less. The examination of magical beliefs and practices in the context of weddings among Ukrainians in Ukraine and in Canada shows that the two groups possess different belief systems: magical and anti-magical respectively. Rural and urban dwellers, divorced people, and the clergy from both countries were interviewed retrospectively about their wedding days. Their answers confirm that magical beliefs and practices are the most fragile part of the folklore complex transmitted to a different cultural context. By contrast, material culture, which becomes a major means of ethnic identification, remains well preserved and cherished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]