Procesy konstruowania tożsamości na pograniczu kultur w wypowiedziach członków społeczności polskich szkół na Litwie

ENThis essay addresses enduring and functioning stereotypes over centuries of shared history. It refers to phenomena and processes that have shaped a feeling of identity, and it presents the current state of Polish education in Lithuania. While it points out the legal bases that permit citizens belonging to national communities to cultivate their language, culture, and customs, it indicates, at the same time, the difficulties of realizing these aims and purposes, such as: the necessity of passing an examination in Lithuanian, and restrictions relating to publishing text-books in Polish and using Polish in many spheres of life. It outlines the role and importance of the Association of Teachers of Polish Schools in Lithuania (the Macierz Szkolna) and the Polish Community Association. It presents the results of research conducted among Poles living in Lithuania on the subject of feelings of consciousness, identity, and national affiliation. The methodological instrument was a method employing narrative biographical interviews, as defined by Fritz Schütz, as a tool for gathering material, and as a way of analyzing these that is based on coherent principles. On the basis of results, categories are distinguished that indicate a feeling of Polishness among various groups. [From the publication]