A New Tradition. Construction of Cultural Identity of Farmers in „Regained Territories” of Poland after World War II in the Light of Their Letters to Authorities
A New Tradition. Construction of Cultural Identity of Farmers in „Regained Territories” of Poland after World War II in the Light of Their Letters to Authorities

Summary/Abstract: After the Second World War Poland became a scene of huge immigration movement. One of the biggest waves flooded so called “Regained Territories” consisting of Western and Northern part of current Poland. The point of interest of the paper is the construction of the cultural identity of population settling in villages. The source for the research conducted was provided by national archives and has the form of letters sent by rural settles to the state authorities. Therefore a bottom-up perspective has been applied. After the textual analysis of the sample of 16 letters ten dimensions of cultural identity had been discovered, such as nationality, language, institutional affiliation, geographical origins, confession, political engagement, financial status, professional skills, physical shape, and gender. Some of these dimensions mingle creating types of cultural identity such as Pole-catholic, Mother-Pole, or Polish soldiers. Their opponents, described with derogatory terms, are Hitlerites, Banderites, German mistress, or looters. The research shows a precious historical and scientific value of peasants’ letters, allowing to access to the information about a cultural self-identification of their authors.

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