Pasjonaci: dewianci, dziwacy, „normalsi”, czyli o roszczeniu uznania normalności
Hobbyists-madcaps: deviants, freaks, normals - about a claim for the normality acknowledgement

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the author’s attempt to define a particular kind of people who realize various types of interests with a strong commitment – the ‘hobbyists’. Primarily open to scrutiny, is how the typical patterns of their careers are being constructed. Moreover, both the significant others’ negative reactions to hobbyists’ activity, and the reasons of why they act in a certain way are elucidated. Hobbyists’ strategies and actions undertaken in order to defend against ‘deviants’ stigmatization’, and their struggle for a status of being ‘normal’ are presented in (ewentualnie the further parts of) this article. The ‘revealed’ (lub reconstructed) strategies are: Professionalization of hobbyist’s passion; ‘Factual’ denial of stereotypical view; Dividing ’normal’ hobbyists from ‘deviant’ ones, Underlining one’s exceptionality (dramatization) in order to gain the acceptance; Using humor and sarcasm; Distancing from the one’s social world.

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