Sytuacja kobiet muzykantek w Polsce – studium przykładów od początku XX wieku do dziś
The situation of women-musicians in Poland – a case study from the beginning of the XX century to the present day

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to identify the changes, based on the biographies of selected women-musicians, which affected traditional musical culture from the strict adherence to roles and functions for both genders to the total collapse of these barriers. There are no observations concerning women-musicians in the XIX century or in the centuries before, neither in Polish ethnography nor in the ethomusicological literature. Women probably played musical instruments, but only at home or while tending domestic animals, however there is a lack of any source confirmation of public performances of women musicians. On account of the rare literature on the topic of gender studies in the field of Polish traditional music and the lack of the gender-thread in the remaining ethnomusicological literature, information on the topic of the current position of women-musicians was gathered first of all during interviews with them and with their families. The analysis is related to the way they speak about their own activities, performances, experiences. The author refers to opinions of only some selected interviewees, the most characteristic of particular generations. The first generation is represented by women born near the end of the XIX century, the second by women born before World War II, the third by women born directly after World War II. Women born after the 50’s and 60’s of the XX century are part of the fourth generation, because at that time the differences in the gender situation had become less apparent.

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