The articulation of Kashubian identity:  Changing conceptualizations and the influence of historical circumstances

Kashubian people constitute an ethnic and linguistic minority that inhabited the historical region of Pomerania, and they currently occupy certain parts of the Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland (predominantly in Gdansk and Slupsk). The linguistic situation of Kashubians has always entailed implications as to their identity, mainly due to the oppression of Kashubian as a minority language (Grabowska and Ladykowski 2-3). Identity issues had already emerged after the collapse of the German empire and with the Kashubians’ consequent adherence to the new Polish state, cultural distinctiveness was harshly damaged. The present thesis analyses the changing conceptualization of Kashubian identity in former Danzig-West Prussia, the Wartheland and Upper Silesia. Time wise, the thesis principally focuses on the end of the First and the Second World War under the National Socialist regime (1919-1945), yet taking into account the impact of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries in Kashubian history....Show moreKashubian people constitute an ethnic and linguistic minority that inhabited the historical region of Pomerania, and they currently occupy certain parts of the Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland (predominantly in Gdansk and Slupsk). The linguistic situation of Kashubians has always entailed implications as to their identity, mainly due to the oppression of Kashubian as a minority language (Grabowska and Ladykowski 2-3). Identity issues had already emerged after the collapse of the German empire and with the Kashubians’ consequent adherence to the new Polish state, cultural distinctiveness was harshly damaged. The present thesis analyses the changing conceptualization of Kashubian identity in former Danzig-West Prussia, the Wartheland and Upper Silesia. Time wise, the thesis principally focuses on the end of the First and the Second World War under the National Socialist regime (1919-1945), yet taking into account the impact of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries in Kashubian history. The main aim is to look at the articulation of the Kashubian identity over time and consider the impacts of the contextual historical circumstances and state influence on Kashubians.Show less

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The articulation of Kashubian identity: Changing conceptualizations and the influence of historical circumstances