Midwife Day in Traditions of the Azov Area Albanians: At the Breakpoint of Spatial and Temporal Codes

Abstract

There are four villages with Albanian population in the South of Ukraine: Zhovtnevoe in the Odessa region, and Georgievka, Devninskoe, and Gammovka in the Zaporozhie region. Up to the end of the 20 th century, the Albanians observed Midwife day ( Babin day) which was imported by the descendants of Southeastern Albania’s natives during their long coexistence with the Bulgarians and Gagauz in Eastern Bulgaria, and which was later modified in the course of migrations and adaptation in Budjak and the Azov area. The examination of various scenarios of observing the holiday and of its action code can help us to locate the origins and migration paths of this ethnic group which has been living for some 500 years by now outside the main zone of Albanian-speaking population.