Published: 2021-12-18

The Vilamovian drymła in the context of ethnocentric texts written by Polish and German researchers

Tymoteusz Wiktor Król
Zeszyty Łużyckie
Section: Articles
DOI https://doi.org/10.32798/zl.816

Abstract

The paper presents the way of writing about Wilamowice as represented by both German and Polish authors, on the example of the Vilamovian headscarf called the “drymła”, in an attempt at analyzing the nationalistic discourse ap­plied therein. German authors, in particular those involved in the “Sprachinselforschung” – research of German language islands – posited the example of this element of folk dress as evidence for an essentially German character of the Vilamovian folk dress, and of its users by extension. In these authors’ opinion, the headdress was to be a relic of ancient-German attire. Polish ethnographers polemized with his view, nevertheless applying similar discursive strategies in their narration: e.g. describing the drymła as an evolution of an old Polish el­ement of traditional dress called the “nałęcz”. Elżbieta Teresa Filip is a notable exception in that she analyzes the overinterpretations on both sides of the debate. An important issue to notice is the mere amount of space dedicated to drymła even in shorter texts discussing the Vilamovian folk dress. The paper additionally presents the more recent history of drymła and its significance in Wilamowice.

Supporting Agencies

This article was written as part of the project “Closed Islands or Multicultural Microregions? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Sprachinselforscher Texts Concerning Hałcnów (Alzen) and Wilamowice (Wymysoü)”, funded by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) under the Iwanowska Programme.

Keywords:

Wilamowice, Vilamovian folk dress, Sprachinselforschung, folk dress, headscarf, nationalistic discourse

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Król, T. W. (2021). The Vilamovian drymła in the context of ethnocentric texts written by Polish and German researchers. Zeszyty Łużyckie, 55(1), 143–169. https://doi.org/10.32798/zl.816

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