A Pole who does not speak Polish is a stupid Pole

Language practices and ideologies of Polish descendants in the South Brazilian countryside

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12775/lud106.2022.03

Keywords

language practices, language ideologies, heritage language, ethnography, linguistic anthropology, Polish diaspora, Brasil

Abstract

The aim of this papper is an analysis of linguistic practices and ideologies of the descendants of the Polish migrants who came to the south of Brazil in the late 19th century. They were peasants, farmers, mostly illiterate, originating from various areas of the then Polish Kingdom and Eastern Galicia. On the basis of materials from ethnographic field research conducted in 2015-2021 in one of the villages in the state of Paraná, I try to answer the questions of what Polish language is for Brazilians of Polish origin, how it is used, valued and passed down from generation to generation. In my analysis, I use key concepts from linguistic anthropology - linguistic practices and ideologies that I place in the context of historical and contemporary language policies in Brazil.

 

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LUD. Organ Polskiego Towarzystwa Ludoznawczego

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Published

2022-12-16

How to Cite

1.
BIELENIN-LENCZOWSKA, Karolina. A Pole who does not speak Polish is a stupid Pole: Language practices and ideologies of Polish descendants in the South Brazilian countryside. LUD. Organ Polskiego Towarzystwa Ludoznawczego. Online. 16 December 2022. Vol. 106, pp. 55-74. [Accessed 26 December 2025]. DOI 10.12775/lud106.2022.03.

Issue

Vol. 106 (2022)

Section

ARTYKUŁY

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Copyright (c) 2022 Karolina Bielenin-Lenczowska

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