| Summary: | The mentality as a special type of folk thinking has always been in the focus of the
following sciences, such as: ethnic psychology, sociology, ethnogenesis, literature and other. Works
of literature give an opportunity to explore causes and conditions of folk thinking formation. It is well
known, that the uniqueness of national thinking is greatly affected by geographical position, nation
genomes development and its formation. Ukrainian writer M. Kotsiubinsky during the period from
1892 to 1896 worked in the Bessarabia villages of Tavria province as a member of Odessa phylloxera
control commission fighting against pests of vineyards in the territory of Novorossiysk general
governor. Working in the Bessarabia villages allowed M. Kotsiubinsky to learn Bessarabians outlook
and create a series of stories describing life style, culture and traditions of this nation. This article
investigates M. Kotsiubinsky’s works from Bessarabian cycle as “Pe-kopter” and “The Witch”. The
Ukrainian writer was able to learn features of life, traditions and morals in Bessarabian community.
Thus, in these stories M. Kotsiubinsky showed that disapproval and community morals were above
the family feelings and parental honor for the residents of Bessarabia at the end of the nineteenth
century. In those days Bessarabian family did not live isolated from the society, and in every possible
way they tried to obey its cruel laws. The way of matazans (villagers) lining in Bessarabia was totally
controlled by the community, and any violation of its standards consequently led to severe
punishment. Sometimes primitive fear of Bessarania inhabitants eclipsed common sense so much that
they were losing their humanity. As a result, traditional livelihood in Bessarabian society developed
certain rules in order to regulate strictly individual behavior in everyday life and during the holiday
time. Rural community was a special social and domestic mechanism establishing and storing
traditions. The preservation of traditions was maintained by the force of public views and applying
different ways of punishment and psychological impact on a particular guilty person such as expelling
an individual away from the village or his/her public derision. In fact M. Kotsiubinsky showed how
rural community suppressed individual’s personality. He also depicted the way how matazans by
means of public opinion formed a certain thinking stereotype that influenced greatly the behavior
norms and rules.
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