Tradycja kolędy w języku i kulturze polskiej
The tradition of carols in the Polish language and culture.

Between universalism and familiarity

Summary/Abstract: This paper is an attempt at looking synthetically at carols as one of the Polish religious-cultural phenomena of a multi-century tradition and incredibly rich textual evidence and ritual forms. In the first part, the author concentrates on genetic conditions of this tradition, starting with etymology of the word kolęda (carol), its local fate and cognate words, as well as genre variety of the more broadly perceived Polish Christmas carol. A separate part of the paper is devoted to the description of the main stages of development and changes in the Polish carolling tradition, the appearance of its separate trends, as well as achievements connected with the edition of carols and pastorales. The paper also contains some remarks on the main themes and topoi of the Polish carol genre and characteristic features of its language and style. One of the main motifs of the work was an attempt at presenting the carol as a phenomenon located between its universal dimension and those features which are typical of the Polish tradition (folk carol, updating and polonizing Biblical scenes and Christmas motifs).

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