What is the Kashubopedia, and where did it come from?
In the years 2015-2020, the Kashubian Institute implemented a grant from the National Program for the Development of the Humanities, entitled Gniazdo Gryfa: Słownik kaszubskich symboli, pamięci i tradycji kultury [The Griffin’s Nest: Dictionary of Kashubian Symbols, Memory and Cultural Traditions]. The leader and originator of the project was Prof. Cezary Obracht-Prondzyński.
The aim of the project was to create a compendium of knowledge about Kashubian symbols, myths, memory, the imaginary world, beliefs and stereotypes (as an important attribute of defining group boundaries: what is one’s own, what is foreign). It was assumed that it would also take into account the specificity of ethnic, cultural and social processes in the (variable) area inhabited by the Kashubian community. The subject was also tradition, including “invented tradition”, i.e. a complex and multi-level resource of values and cultural content, living, constantly reinterpreted, changing over time, but – at the same time – with many permanent elements (e.g. auto-stereotype features). The project took into consideration resources that were and still are the foundation of the complex Kashubian identity. In addition, there is an important process of institutionalization of culture and ideological and artistic pluralism, which is expressed in various forms of creativity.
The project adopted a historical perspective, but – at the same time – emphasized the transformations in Kashubian culture which make it contemporary attractive and creative. It has taken into account the fact that this culture remains a diverse, variable and complex phenomenon (it is multi-stage, hybrid, contextual etc.).
A publication presenting the project came out in Gdańsk in 2020. Its title was the same as the title of the project, and it was edited by C. Obracht-Prondzyński. The 744 pages contain over 400 entries written by eleven authors (Miłosława Borzyszkowska-Szewczyk, Józef Borzyszkowski, Witosława Frankowska, Daniel Kalinowski, Katarzyna Kulikowska, Anna Kwaśniewska, Magdalena Lemańczyk, Cezary Obracht-Prondzyński, Justyna Pomierska, Tomasz Rembalski and Miloš Řezník).
The print run sold out completely within a few months, which proves how much this publication was needed. At the same time, there were constant demands to develop this project further. Kashubopedia is the implementation of these postulates.
On the one hand, we rely on the entries that were prepared for the Griffin’s Nest, but they have been reviewed by the authors, supplemented and, where necessary, corrected.
There have also been ideas for more articles – over 100! We will gradually prepare and place them on the Kashubopedia website, observing the principle of scientific reliability (including the procedure of reviewing each entry). Some of these articles will be written by new authors – information about all the authors is available in a separate tab, and each article is signed with the author’s name so that readers know who prepared it.
Kaszubopedia is an open project, so we not only invite you to use it, but also to submit corrections, additions and suggestions (e.g. new topics).
