Znaczenie lektury w życiu społeczności wiejskiej w świetle pamiętników chłopów w okresie dwudziestolecia międzywojennego
The role of a book in life of a rural community in the light of peasants’ diaries in the inter‑war period

Author(s): Monika Olczak-Kardas
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the role of a book and press in a rural environment in the interwar period.Theanalysis covered 150memories from published diaries.The following issues were raised: reading choices,book and press availability, and benefits derived from reading. Also,many relationships between readingand gender, age, education level and place of living were presented.The influence of social organizations,agricultural schools and people’s universities on reader’s choices were shown. Also, forms of work witha book— individual reading, reading in a group and competitions of a good reading were analysed.Theattention was paid to the titles of books and magazines selected.The exemplification constitutes lives ofparticular countryside dwellers, for whom a book was the beginning of a new life, education, spiritualdevelopment, social promotion, and a conscious participation in social and political life. Books andmagazines were the source of knowledge and means of gaining information on the surrounding world.They constituted rest and killed their free time. A book was a companion when they struggled with lifeadversities. It developed their imagination, aroused dreams, and broadened horizons and sometimes hadan influence on life choices.

• Details
• Contents