Czy ziołolecznictwo ludowe jest ludowe? Na marginesie dziewiętnasto- i dwudziestowiecznych debat wokół korzeni fitoterapii
Is folk herbalism truly folk? Exploring 19th- and 20thcentury debates on the roots of phytotherapy

Summary/Abstract: The question of the direction of information fl ow related to herbal treatment has been a topic of interest for researchers for centuries. However, “infl uenceology,” which involves identifying mutual relationships and dependencies, can be misleading, especially when seeking one-way solutions as a desirable form of response to issues related to broadly defi ned cultural phenomena. The term “infl uence-ology” was coined by literary scholars criticizing the positivist methodology derived from evolutionism. This methodology focused on fi nding all possible infl uences between literary works, resulting in often unwarranted and even ridiculous conclusions, and above all, leading to the squandering of what is the essence of literature. It seems that an ethnologist tracing infl uence in the context of herbal medicine loses sight of what is the essence of folk culture. The question “Is folk herbalism folk?” assumes a historical and source nature and contains an evolutionary desire to determine a one-way infl uence. Although poorly posed, it opens up the fi eld for presenting arguments that the parties used in the discussion. These considerations are the subject of this article.

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