A Linguistic and Cultural Image of a House in the Polish Folk Tradition

Agnieszka Kościuk

A linguistic and cultural image of a house in the Polish folk tradition (based on „Dzieła wszystkie” by Oskar Kolberg)

Summary of doctoral thesis under the supervision of prof. dr hab. Jerzy Bartmiński

The purpose of the thesis is a linguistic and cultural reconstruction of the image of a house in the Polish folk tradition based on Dzieła wszystkie [Complete works] by Oskar Kolberg (1814–1890). The analysis I have carried out attempt to describe how the users of the Polish folk language and carriers of the folk culture perceived a house and how it was reflected in their language and documentations of myths, behaviour, beliefs or systems of values. The thesis originates from the ethnolinguistic Lublin environment. The central concept of ethnolinguistics and linguistic image of the world constitute its theoretical and methodological basis. As I go beyond the system data, I use in the title the term “linguistic and cultural” image. The material basis of the thesis involves: a) ethnographic data (records of beliefs and practices, ethnographic descriptions taken from Complete Works by Oskar Kolberg (CWOK); b) text data (folklore texts of various genres from CWOK); c) system data (from Polish etymological dictionaries, atlases and dialect studies). The thesis consists of three parts: I an introductory section with a methodological fragment; II a section devoted to the state of research and Oskar Kolberg and his Dzieła wszystkie in view of European and Polish interests in the folk culture; III the main analytical section – presenting a linguistic and cultural image of a house in the Polish folk culture on the grounds of the selected material basis. A folk concept of a HOUSE at the linguistic level is represented by different lexemes: a) house (cottage, hut, cabin etc.) – a village house, farmhouse; b) manor – gentry house; c) tenement house – a town house; d) palace – royal, baronial house; e) castle – fortified house. The above mentioned keywords were mentioned in the main part of the thesis and were explained in the form of a cognitive definition. They consist of explication and documentation, and they are preceded by a summary. A farmhouse is a place that gives shelter and helps to satisfy most people’s needs, both emotional and social, as well as practical ones. A safe house is contrasted with unfamiliar space, the farther it is located from the house, the more dangerous or even demonic it seems. In spite of its simplicity, a farmhouse is perceived as a valuable and warm place, in contrast to a tenement house, vain manor, sophisticated palace or inaccessible castle which often cannot be described as the mainstay of moral life. In the folklore vision of the world, a house is father’s property, but a venue of activities of a mother who is working mainly at home and bringing up children there. In a traditional house, apart from the residents, there also appear newcomers and visitors who should be welcomed with hospitality. A house that is run in a proper way, and a harmonious family are blessed by the Lord. In the love contexts of songs, a girl’s visitors symbolize her lovers. According to the folklore tradition, a manor, the property and dwelling of a lord – a nobleman, the owner of the estate, is perceived as a place of easy and pleasant life without a need to work. Peasants are servants in the manor supervised by the lord, there are also craftsmen and officials working there, whereas the lord and his family benefit and take advantage of their subjects’ work and peasants’ levies paid for the manor. A manor in a folklore tradition often appears as a place where there are crimes and betrayals; where dishonesty and greed prevail, where naive and gullible village girls are seduced. Folklore data also allow to reconstruct the image of a royal court. Its main resident is the king, and other residents include officials, courtiers, ladies-in-waiting, maids and other servants working for him. A royal court is usually evaluated in a negative way – as a rich place but full of vanity. A tenement house, a large brick townhouse is primarily seen in the folk tradition as something of a great value, symbolizing wealth or even independence.. It is also a place where people have fun, drink, dance and play cards, but also lure a polite lady. The analyzed material implies that a palace in the folk culture is seen as a decorative, beautiful, enormous and high, full of luxury building, surrounded by a similarly beautiful garden.. A palace often appears in fairy tales where it is a usually charmed along with its inhabitants. A common motif in the folklore is visiting a palace by a poor man, a peasant or another person who is provided there with support and guidance in life thanks to his good traits of character. A castle, in turn, is a place of residence of the king and queen, princes and knights. It is usually situated on a hill. It is large, high, surrounded by a wall and fortifications. It is seen as a dignified, beautiful, proud and extremely valuable structure. According to folklore beliefs, there are treasures in castles and the ruins of castles are haunted by scary ghosts. Some tales contain motifs of an enchanted castle which collapses into the ground or water. In the symbolic sense, a castle means, on the one hand, something permanent, but on the other hand, it is associated with a girl who is difficult to win. The thesis ends with a summary and a list of sources and compilations.