ATTITUDES TOWARDS LUSATIA AND ITS HERITAGE IN POLISH. HISTORICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LUSATIA AND ITS HERITAGE IN POLISH. HISTORICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses contemporary attitudes towards Lusatian heritage in Poland, with special attention to the region called Eastern Lusatia situated in the western part of the country. This approach aims to present the phenomenon within an interdisciplinary context of history and social sciences. The broad historical context included in this paper covers mostly the period of post-war border changes, especially those between Poland and Germany. The communist period in Poland and the specificity of communist minority policies is one of the key factors shaping today’s image of Sorbian heritage. Another important perspective is the contemporary trend for creating new localities as a form of the affective bond with the place of inhabitance. This, in the authors’ view, is deeply rooted in post-war social phenomena such as mass-scale migrations. The authors claim that today’s presence and presentation of Lusatian heritage is mostly instrumental and serves local communities as tourist attractions rather than including the Sorbian minority in the discourse of identity.

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