Cultural Borderland in sociological perspective : the case of Upper Silesia

Prace Naukowe. Pedagogika, Dec 2000

Marek S. Szczepański

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Cultural Borderland in sociological perspective : the case of Upper Silesia

Marek S. Szczepański Cultural Borderland in sociological perspective : the case of Upper Silesia Prace Naukowe. Pedagogika - M arek S. S zczepański (T y c h y - K a to w ic e ) Cultural Borderland in sociological perspective (the case of Upper Silesia1) People were not born to live in borderline/frontier situations, they try to avoid such situations or to disengage fro m them as quickly as possible. However, men do encounter such situations every­ where, they can be seen and fe lt anywhere... Border means stress, even fe a r (much more seldom: liberation). The notion o f border may entail some extremity, the doors can slam behind us and trap us forever... Ryszard Kapuściński (Contemporary Polish writer & journalist) (Imperium - The Empire) One day we, Upper Silesians, will vanish. Even now we are already scattered, like Jews, all over the world. Even though each o f us cherishes in him self that piece o f motherland, that piece o f borderland. Horst Bienek (German writer who was born in Upper Silesia) (Opis pewnej prowincji - Description o f a Certain Province) The borderline region: preliminaries The text that I submit contains sociological reflection upon the multidimen­ sional concept of borderline region. My paper is also another attempt at reinterpre­ tation of results of empirical studies carried out in Upper Silesia in the years 1985— 1999, the region being a typical, in my opinion, case of cultural borderline2. Their 'Throughout my paper I apply the term U pper Silesia (Górny Śląsk), lacking precision. That lack of precision is, indeed, due to the fact that the historically shaped Upper Silesian region, belonging after World War II almost entirely to Poland, comprises a substantial part of Katowice and Opole provinces (voivodships), as well as a small portion of the Częstochowa province (voivodship). Many researchers also include the Cieszyn Silesia (Śląsk Cieszyński) into Upper Silesia, which region administratively belongs to the Bielsko-Biała province (voivodship), although those opposing such delimitation stress that Cieszyn Silesia - after Silesian wars - belonged to the Habsburg monarchy, and leaned towards Galicja, whereas Upper Silesia was part of the Prussian kingdom, and leaned towards Great Poland (Wielkopolska). The paper is - indeed and due to content limitation - devoted mainly to the Katowice part of Upper Silesia. 2Some results o f empirical studies are included in the following papers: M.S. Szczepański: „Miasto socjalistyczne i świat społeczny jego mieszkańców” (‘Socialist Town and the Social World of its In­ habitants’),Uniwersytet Warszawski: Warszawa, 1991; W. Błasiak, T. Nawrocki, M.S. Szczepański: „Górny Śląsk 2005. Scenariusz restrukturyzacji”, Towarzystwo Zachęty Kultury: Katowice, 1994, English version of the book: ‘Upper Silesia 2005. The Restructuring Scenario’ Katowice, 1994 (W. Błasiak, T. Nawrocki - co-authors, M.S. Szczepański - Scientific Editor); M.S. Szczepański (ed.): summarizing recapitulation need to be preceded by at least a preliminary analysis of key words and notions, which constitute the internal logic of the paper and its or­ ganization. Those notions constitute a triad, based on similarity or closeness of meanings (borderland - geographic borderland - cultural borderland). The notion of borderland is very capacious and universal, referring to phe­ nomena which commonly occur. There is a borderland between wealth and poverty, between good health and illness, between well-being and ill-being, between happi­ ness and unhappiness, between high and low culture, between love and hate, there are borderlands between social classes: high, middle, and low. Borderland is present in all societies and all communities, there are also borderlands in individuals them­ selves. Each o f us - as has been pointed out by Horst Bienek, the German writer who was bom in Upper Silesia - carries his piece o f borderland in him self How common and universal the notion of borderland is has been oftentimes stressed by Zbigniew Kwieciński and Lech Witkowski, when writing upon the pedagogy of borderland3. The universality of the notion of borderland, already mentioned, leads however - to difficulties in forming a precise definition which per saldo entails limited explanatory value. „Dilemmas of Regionalism and the Region of Dilemmas. The Case of Upper Silesia”, Uniwersytet Śląski, Katowice, 1993; M.S. Szczepański (ed.) „Raport o stanie oświaty województwa ka­ towickiego” (‘Report on Education in the Katowice Voivodship’), Kuratorium O światy: Katowice, 1993; M.S. Szczepański (ed.): „Górnicy górnośląscy - ludzie zbędni, ludzie luźni? Szkice socjologic­ zne” ( ‘Upper Silesian Miners - Redundant People, Loose People? Sociological Sketches’), AMP: Kraków-Katowice, 1994; M.S. Szczepański (ed.): „Górny Śląsk - na moście Europy” (‘Upper Silesia - on the European Bridge’), Towarzystwo Zachęty Kultury, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Katowice, 1994; M.S. Szczepański (ed.): „System oświat (...truncated)


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Marek S. Szczepański. Cultural Borderland in sociological perspective : the case of Upper Silesia, Prace Naukowe. Pedagogika, 2000, pp. 981-995, Tom 8-9-10,