Charakter narodowy.
The National Character

Summary/Abstract: The author of the presented essay continues his reflections on the phenomenon and nature of the so-called national character, a descriptive category typical for the social sciences. By referring to Portret obcego (Portrait of a Stranger) by Z. Benedyktowicz and its remark about the dynamic nature of the "one’s own kind – the outsider" category, the author draws attention predominantly to the dynamic of stereotypical images and their purely conventional status. Alluding to vast empirical material, the study underlines chiefly the purely contextual (historical) aspect of the emergence of national stereotypes, and thus opposes all those conceptions which wish to see in the ”national character” a social reality determined psychologically, biologically or geographically.

• Details
• Contents