Spiritual Life and Ethnic Symbols Cover Image

Duchowość i etnosymbolika
Spiritual Life and Ethnic Symbols

Author(s): Marek Dziewierski
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Uniwersytet Łódzki - Wydział Ekonomiczno-Socjologiczny
Keywords: Greek Catholicism; Ukrainian minority; ideological landscape; sacred place; ethnic myth; signifying practices; ethnic mobilization

Summary/Abstract: Since 1947, most of Ukrainians in Poland live in diasporas. This situation has a great significant for symbolical organization of space, reconstruction national culture, spiritual life and their identification with the group. The paper is based on the empirical study of Ukrainian communities conducted in two regions, south eastern and north eastern of Poland. The Ukrainians in research work areas have developed a national identity. Their self-definition is based mainly on religious differences: Greek Catholic or Orthodox. Religion has also become an important element of ethnic mobilization of the communities under consideration. In particular the Greek Catholic takes religious and sacred object not only element spiritual life bat also space of patriotic staging and localization national values. This can be seen for example in more elements of local landscape how new shrines have been built, there are new monuments, memorial crosses and other signifying practices. All this practices are coincides with the event the revival of the Greek Catholic Church ( also called in Poland the Uniate Church ), both in the institutional and spiritual sense after 1989.

  • Issue Year: IV/2008
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 1-35
  • Page Count: 35
  • Language: Polish