The Kashubian (self) stereotype is a way of describing the social group, as well as how it is read, interpreted and constructed. It is an image of the members of the Kashubian group, characterized by standardization, automatism, exaggeration and simplification. It usually has an evaluative meaning – it can be positive or negative, as well as neutral. Stereotypes reflect widespread images, the ethnic character of the group, its ethnic syndrome. Stereotypes about one’s own group are self-stereotypes, about the out-group are hetero-stereotypes. Self-stereotypes, i.e. self-assessment of group features, are an important element of the Kashubian ethnic, individual and collective identity. They constitute a criterion of the Kashubian group’s distinctiveness, help to define its place in the surrounding environment. Common stereotypes about Kashubians often result from ignorance, misunderstanding of the group’s specificity and history and of present day Kashubians, or are a reflection of their own complexes (→Kashubian complex).
The (self)stereotype of Kashubians and Kashubia, with positive and negative connotations, is presented in a very diverse form. It appears in the 19th century and is mainly contained in sayings, proverbs, parables, jokes and accounts of travels to Kashubia (→guides to Kashubia). The 19th century (self)stereotype of Kashubia was shaped primarily in interactions with Germans and was popularized by Germans (→Germans about Kashubia).
As the outstanding activist of the Kashubian movement J. Karnowski (→Young Kashubians) claimed in 1911 that Kashubians are mostly characterized by religiosity, perseverance and justice. I. Gulgowski (→Gulgowscy Teodora and Izydor), founder of the Kashubian Museum in Wdzydze (→ museums), wrote in his 1924 work “Kashubians” that Kashubians are characterized by sincerity and openness towards their own people, they have a sense of commerce and trade, and are enterprising. Hence, among other things, the saying that “a Jew can fool ten Poles, but a Kashub can fool ten Jews”. Kashubians were often described as persistent and stubborn people, with strong values, hospitable, sincere, resourceful, hardened and as patriots. Recklessness and drunkenness were indicated among the Kashubians negative traits. S. Tarnowski, after his journey to Royal Prussia, wrote that Kashubians have great qualities, including thriftiness, foresight, prudence, a warm heart, rational patriotism, diligence, determination, and a calm temperament. J.S. Bystroń, the Polish ethnographer and sociologist, pointed out the pejorative example of calling the Bamber community in Poznań “Kashubia”, and the Kashubians “Pomereńkie” or Pomeranian Evangelicals”. In the 19th century, this was one of the worst insults for the Kashubians.
Figure 1. Stereotypical representations of Kashubs also appear in popular culture. Figure 1. Stereotypical representations of Kashubians also appear in popular culture. One episode of the television series Na dobre i na złe caused unrest and heated discussion in the Kashubian community.
In the Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (Geographic Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland) from 1882 there is a description of the image of Kashubians: “A Kashubian is cheerful and free, and if he has a drink, he would give everything away to his neighbour, but when he crosses someone, he is stubborn and uncompromising, so much so that it has become a proverb (“stubborn as a Kashub”). It is difficult to find any real malice in him. (…) They will welcome a guest warmly and treat him to whatever they have. In the past, fights would break out at weddings and christenings, but now, after the missions of the Jesuits, exemplary sobriety and diligence prevail. This people are highly pious (…). The churches are always crowded (…). He is also keen when it comes to studies, many Kashubians’ sons are educated in grammar schools in Wejherowo, Pelplin, Chełmno and Chojnice” (J. Fankidejski, hasło Kaszuby, słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Vol. 3, Warszawa 1882, s. 906).
F. Ceynowa, in one of his first literary works created the following image of the Kashubians through the mouth of a Kashub talking to a Pole: „jedny są Grëbi, a drëdżi są Fejn Kaszëbi. Grëbi są ti, co ni mają swòjich przëwilejów ani taczëch łask òd Pana Bòga, jaczé mają Fejn Kaszëbi, chtërny przez swòje mãstwò, co je napisóné w ksãdze Chronikòrum kaszëbsczé, (…) and these words: “Nama jich kôżë bic, a wszëtczëch ùbijemë – wieczny sobie zaszczët ù całégò swiata zrobilë” (F. Ceynowa, Rozmòwa Pòlôcha z Kaszëbą…, s. 126). Grëbi Kaszëbi or Grobkaszëbi in the parishes of Strzepcz and Sianowo, were supposed to speak less purely than the Fejnkaszëbi. Fejn Kaszëbi, according to Ceynowa, were supposed to live in the vicinity of Żarnowiec and speak a less contaminated “spoiled” Kashubian, from the German fein “precisely, purely”.
A complex stereotype of Kashubians is present in J. Kisielewski’s collection of reports from 1939, “Ziemia gromadzi prochy” (The Earth Hoards Ashes). The author describes Kashubian religiosity, industriousness, pragmatism in life and group solidarity, but also distrust in first contacts and suspicion. Kisielewski emphasized the internal differentiation of the Kashubian population (→ Kashubian local groups) in terms of culture, language, profession, property, etc.: “In the mouths of the Kashubians, many of these names [local groups – M.L.] have a mocking and ridiculing meaning. This is usually the work of the north of Kashubia, which considers itself better and feels obliged to mock the south, more easily influenced by their surroundings, changing their dialect more easily. (…) Kashubia has an astonishing power of assimilation (including Germans). (…) The religiosity of the Kashubians and their attachment to Catholicism deserve special attention and emphasis. Among the Kashubians: a Kashubian, a Pole, a Catholic – these are one and the same. Protestant – German. (…) They only had understanding for the Słupsk and Lębork »Pomeranki«; it is well known here that their Lutheranism arose out of compulsion. That it caused them misery. So in local churches prayers were offered for their conversion” (J. Kisielewski, Ziemia gromadzi prochy, Poznań 1939; here: 2nd edition, Warsaw 1990, pp. 384-386).
At least since the second half of the 20th century, the Kashubian (self)stereotype was shaped to a large extent in interactions with cultural and regional groups of Poles. Its content still contained a compact complex of features formed in the conditions of the Prussian state’s domination, in interactions with German neighbours and the Evangelical Church. The dominant ethos in the Kashubian (self)stereotype at that time was the Pomeranian-positivist ethos, encompassing features such as: religiosity, industriousness, perseverance and determination in striving for a goal, resourcefulness in life, mutual helpfulness and thriftiness. These features, at least in the declarative sphere, are still highly valued among Kashubians.
Sociological research conducted in the 1990s indicated the durability of the Kashubian (self)stereotype and its convergence with the image established since the 19th century, as well as a clearly positive tone. In the first years after the political transformation in Poland, the positive (self)stereotype of Kashubians was significantly strengthened compared to the decade preceding 1989. This means that in the conditions of civil society and increased ethnic subjectivity, the Kashubians’ own group image was clearly valorized. It was determined to a large extent by three features: religiosity, industriousness and persistence. Religiosity and attachment to the Catholic religion constitute an important sphere of the Kashubian ethos, although in the 21st century, both features have been shifted to the symbolic sphere (→identity).
In turn, L. Bądkowski in the text “Wizerunek kaszubskiej duszy” (published in “Dziennik Bałtycki”, 1990, no. 185) emphasized a kind of defensive complex among Kashubians, their lack of expansiveness and brilliance. It sensitized readers to the transformations of Kashubian attitudes towards their own identity, their departure from authentic ethnic culture and their increasing adoption of the patterns of so-called mass culture. This process was supported by the post-war policy of the Polish state, which eliminated all regional differences.
One of the foundations of the Kashubian (self)stereotype is the family (→Kashubian family) as the stronghold of Kashubian identity and values. Although in the 21st century it is increasingly rare to have a large, multi-generational family, its identity-forming role is still invaluable.
As late as the 1990s, ideas indicating the existence of prejudices and stereotypes about Kashubians occupied a fairly clear place in the consciousness of the Kashubian population. Their most common source were residents of regions other than the newcomers who settled in Kashubia. The Kashubian sense of existing prejudices and ethnic distances was primarily sustained by experiences resulting from external contacts – and these experiences were shaped in Kashubia differently than, for example, in the Opole part of Upper Silesia, where prejudices and stereotypes function between Silesians and other inhabitants of this region (→Silesians and Kashubians).
Among the negative features of the Kashubian hetero-stereotype, which in many places coincide with the (self)stereotype, the most common were: secrecy, little openness to strangers, stubbornness, and opinions about a lack of social refinement and low cultural level. Many negative opinions were associated with the conviction of close national ties between Kashubians and Germans, as well as doubts about the Polishness of Kashubians. The durability of this stereotype is evidenced by, among others, the case of D. Tusk’s (→ Prime Minister from Kashubia) grandfather, who was accused in 2005 of volunteering for the Wehrmacht (→ German national list / Volksdeutsch / Eindeutschung). In this context, the words of grandmother Anna Koljaczkowa from The Tin Drum by G. Grass are significant, as she bids farewell to her grandson who was leaving Gdańsk after the end of World War II: “That’s how it is with Kashubians, Oskar. They always get hit on the head. (…) Because Kashubians cannot be moved anywhere, they always have to be here and stick their heads out so that others can strike, because we are not Polish enough and not German enough, because if someone is Kashubian, it is not enough for either the Germans or the Poles. They always want to know exactly what is what!” (G. Grass, The Tin Drum, Warsaw 1984, p. 439). The Kashubian population is sensitive to this issue, sometimes overemphasising their Polishness.
In the conditions of stereotypes and prejudices, labelling (social marking) and categorizing by assigning names and evaluating Kashubians is a common phenomenon. An example that still existed between the years 1980 and 2000 but is increasingly disappearing in the 21st century, are malicious jokes, pejorative expressions and features attributed to Kashubians, e.g. “Kashubians have a black palate”, “You Kashub”, “okaszubić” (to cheat), “a herring is not a fish, a Kashub is not a human being”, “sell a horse, buy a Kashub – it eats little, works a lot”. The Kashubian hetero-stereotype also has a non-ethnic source, resulting from the cultural and social distance between the city and the countryside or the centre and the periphery. The Kashubians, who mostly live in rural and agricultural areas, were most often associated with rural rusticity and these are synonyms of backwardness. Despite the increasingly blurred distance between the city and the countryside, the above features still constitute a Kashubian complex among the population.
A significant factor reinforcing the prejudices experienced by Kashubians are linguistic differences. The further the distance from Kashubia, the more negative are the opinions about the Kashubian language, and indirectly about Kashubians. In the first decades of the 21st century, a weakening of negative stereotypes about Kashubians and a revaluation of their negative labelling have been noticeable. At the same time, there has been a gradual valorization of the (self)stereotype among Kashubians, consisting in a greater acceptance of their own ethnicity, mainly their own material and non-material culture, including language. This is a reason for a sense of Kashubian group pride, which is primarily private and local – Kashubians are proud of their origin, but they do not show it externally. The valorization of the (self)stereotype of Kashubia was also contributed to by the Ustawa o mniejszościach narodowych i etnicznych oraz o języku regionalnym (Act on national and ethnic minorities and regional languages) of 6 January 2005, which for the first time in history legally sanctioned the status of the Kashubian language as – so far – the only regional language in Poland, as well as the education of the political elite, operating at the local government, national and European level, and the Kashubian intellectual elite, by the Kashubian movement.
Sociological studies conducted in the first decade of the 21st century indicate the occurrence of significant differences in the perception of the characteristics of Kashubians by themselves and by people of other ethnic origin. The Kashubian self-stereotype is much more positive than the Kashubian image on the outside. Kashubians much more often assess themselves as more hard-working, conscientious, just, honest, persistent, as religious people and as Catholics, and also more attached to their land, than they are assessed as such. Traits belonging to the negative stereotype of Kashubia, e.g. dishonesty, mismanagement, intolerance, drunkenness and cunning are much more often emphasized by people of non-Kashubian origin. The portrayal of the Kashubian (self)stereotype in the form of a harmful image of the group in one of the episodes of the TVP2 series Na dobre i na złe (For Better and for Worse) (episode 830, 12.01.2022) has had a wide resonance. It has sparked protests from Kashubian communities, local journalists and regionalists. Kashubians are shown there as people abusing alcohol, living in old cottages, not taking care of their health and living in a backward region. Young residents of Kashubia, members of the “Cassubia” association, recorded a film clip in protest against the stereotypes presented in this episode.
Magdalena Lemańczyk
Bibliography
- Mazurek M., Język, przestrzeń, pochodzenie. Analiza tożsamości kaszubskiej, Gdańsk 2010.
- Porębska M., Das Kaschubische: Sprachtod oder Revitalisierung? Empirische Studien zur ethnolinguistischen Vitalität einer Sprachminderheit in Polen, „Slavistische Beiträge”, München 2006.
- Synak B., Kaszubska tożsamość. Ciągłość i zmiana. Studium socjologiczne, Gdańsk 1998.
Filmography
- „Na dobre i na złe”, TVP2, Episode 830, 12.01.2022.
- Cassubia, film clip https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1090357968471320.
Figure
