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Identity Dilemmas in the Polish-Belarusian Borderland
Abstract
The identity of the population in the Polish–Belarusian borderland depends on a number of objective and subjective factors. National identification is often secondary to cultural and religious identity. The predominant national indifference which occurs in this area (the so-called ‘locality’ i.e. ‘I’m local’) contributes to the formation of stereotypes, or reduces national identity to religious identity: ‘Poles are Catholics’, ‘Belarusians are Orthodox’. The Polish–Belarusian borderland itself is somehow a vague area due to the absence of clear boundaries.
This complex situation is a result of various cultural, historical and political influences. The relatively late – in comparison with the Polish or Russian national awareness – evolution of the Belarusian national consciousness and the lack of tradition of a Belarusian state are of particular importance. As there are no clear natural ethnic boundaries and no national Belarusian traditions in the Polish–Belarusian borderland, the borders of national identity run across families – various national options may reveal themselves in one family: Polish, Belarusian, Lithuanian, Jewish and Russian. National identity dilemmas are affected by factors such as: the degree of national consciousness, language, attachment to tradition, knowledge of history, religious affiliation, historical experience, political situation and opportunism.
Keywords:
Polish–Belarusian borderland, national identity, cultural identity, religious identity, Belarusians, borderlandsMost read articles by the same author(s)
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