KASZUBI – NARÓD, MNIEJSZOŚĆ, GRUPA POSŁUGUJĄCA SIĘ JĘZYKIEM REGIONALNYM
KASHUBS – A NATION, MINORITY, A DIALECTAL GROUP

Summary/Abstract: Kashubs constitute an exceptional cultural and ethnic phenomenon. Their status and position in Poland were changing in time: from the status of ethnographic group, through ethnic minority, to the position of a group using a regional language. Moreover, even the notion of nation, minority and ethnicity are fluent. Analyzing the attitudes of Kashubs and their present status, I refer to the theories of the Polish sociological school, and especially to Florian Znaniecki, Józef Chałasiński, and Stanisław Ossowski, as well as to my studies and interviews with Kashubian activists. The problem with classification of the group and especially the question of Kashubian nationality is today a very sensitive case which divides the Kashub society. There are two main attitudes: first, polonocentric, represented by most of Kashubian activists and by Kashub community, and the second attitude, represented by the radical Kashubian milieu who consider Kashubs to be a nation distinct from the Polish one. The status of Kashubs depends on themselves: their self-awareness, determination, engagement in actions undertaken by them in order to protect and develop their language and culture.

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