CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH ON THE RURAL FAMILY IN

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122
DANUTA MARKOWSKA
CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH ON THE RURAL FAMILY IN POLAND
I. INTRODUCTION
Such analyses are always difficult and problematic, while this is especially
true in the case of such a topic as that of the rural family. It constitutes the basic cell
of society, which every researcher of rural problems must come into contact with.
Therefore, almost every text about rural areas, their economy, the organisation of
community life, social institutions and various cultural fields contains factual
material or generalisations which directly or indirectly pertain to the family. As a
principle, all monographs about rural areas – excluding those which deal with a very
narrow specialised subject – contain fragments which pertain to the family. If
simultaneously we come to the realisation how many various disciplines focusing on
researching rural areas necessarily also discuss different aspects of family life, then
the aim of this paper would seem to be impossible to achieve. For this very reason, it
is necessary to narrow its focus. Thus, I will indicate here only those texts and
research approaches which treat the rural family as an independent subject of
investigation, focusing on features characteristic for the family, its functions, the
dynamics of its transformation, or significant links between the family and other
institutions or social groups; links which explain important aspects of family life. On
the other hand, the numerous other analyses, within which the family is not the main
focus of the analysis but one of the subjects through which other social phenomena
and processes are researched (e.g. social and occupational structures or the living
standards of the population), will only be taken into account if they supply
indispensable data about the family or if they indicate important research areas.
I will, however, discuss contemporary general theoretical concepts, concerned
with the processes of social and economic transformation in rural areas or rural
culture, which may constitute both an inspiration as well as a general background for
analyses of the rural family.
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II. AVAILABLE MATERIAL
A researcher beginning studies of the contemporary rural family in Poland
after World War II was faced with the difficult situation of both an abundance of
material and…a lack of it. On the one hand, he had access to a vast amount of
literature on the subject within world academic material, both ethnological which
dealt primarily with primitive societies, as well as sociological, focused especially
on the family within urban and industrial clusters, or generally analysing the
transformation of the family in the conditions of industrial civilisation. On the other
hand, he/she was faced with a sea of facts concerning the rural family and collected
from the position of the research needs of various disciplines, incorporated into
diverse interpretational trends, scattered across different publications. A theoretical
trend which would explain specific features of rural families, the fundamental
determinants of these features or development trends had not been developed to a
comparable degree. Thus, there was a lack of an intermediary link between the
general theoretical concepts or patterns of research and the sea of facts or
fragmentary generalisations.
How could the researcher make use of general ethnology? What strictly
general statements could be utilised? What methodological guidelines?
Inquiries into the family within ethnological studies began along with the very
beginnings of the discipline itself. This is most probably a result of the fact that
within the social structure of primitive families, the family and kinship system
constituted the basis for the broader social organisation, including tribal and state
organisms. In such conditions, the organisation of the family explained a lot of
seemingly distant areas of collective life and culture. Therefore, the family
constituted the point of departure for many analyses.
19th-century interest in the family within ethnological studies revolved around
the genesis of the family and the stages of its development. The structure of the
family and its internal organisation were at the centre of researchers’ focus. Today,
such subject matter has yielded to investigations which are limited to a strictly
specified empirical base, studies of a much more modest aim but more profoundly
documented. The breakthrough in this aspect undoubtedly came with the works of
Bronisław Malinowski and the monographs of his school of thought. Among
Malinowski’s works, the ones which should primarily be mentioned are those
dealing with complete monographic fieldwork on marriage, the family and kinship
among the inhabitants of the Trobriand Islands, namely The Sexual Life of Savages
in North-Western Melanesia1. On the example of a study of the family, the author
presents the principles of the functionalist school of thought, limited to current
circumstances and primarily researching the functions of the family, as well as
1
London 1929.
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analysing the structural forms in connection to the tasks fulfilled by this institution.
A continuation of research of a functionalist type about the family and kinship can
be found in many fieldwork monographs by Malinowski’s students.
From among other publications, those defined as being structuralist, RadcliffeBrown devoted many of his texts to family and kinship structures. The introduction
to the collective work African Systems of Kinship and Marriage2 or On Social
Structure3 and The Study of Kinship Systems4can be considered as being
representative of this theoretical approach. An academic movement is concentrated
around Prof. Radcliffe-Brown in Great Britain, which is developing the structuralist
point of view on family and kinship. The main representatives of this approach are
E. E. Evans-Pritchard and M. Fortes. In France, structuralist concepts concerning the
researching of family and kinship are being developed by C. Lévi-Strauss, primarily
in his publication Les structures élémentaires de la paranté5.
Of course, only some examples of contemporary ethnological studies of the
family have been mentioned here. A full synthesis of ethnological studies of the
family has not been conducted thus far. Attempts of this kind have been made by
the American cultural anthropologist G. P. Murdock in his text Social Structure6.
The author presented data concerning the structure and other aspects of family life
collected in 250 different societies. He made use of a comparative-quantative
method in his analysis, i.e. he juxtaposed separate elements or features of family life
and showed their quantative intensification in the societies being investigated. This
work may fulfil the role of giving access to information covering a wide scope;
however, it does not have a clear theoretical concept behind it.
Nevertheless, regardless from which point of view ethnological research of the
family was conducted, it should be stated that many basic methodological and
technical approaches have been developed. Due to operating with a broad spectrum
of comparative material, general ethnology has indisputably determined the
fundamental structural types of families. Irrespective of the method used to define
the family (as a social institution or as a social group) and regardless of the type of
society within which the family is being analysed, marriage and kinship are always
acknowledged as the basis for such considerations. The conceptual point of
departure for such considerations is that of the “nuclear family” (mała rodzina,
famille élémentaire, Kernfamilie), which should be understood as a group consisting
of the married couple and their unmarried offspring, forming the household. The
next important differentiation is that of the polygamist family in its two forms:
polygyny (one husband and many wives) and polyandry (one wife and many
2
London 1956: 1-85.
“Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute”, vol. 70, 1940: 1-12.
4
Ibidem, vol. 71, 1941: 1-18.
5
Paris 1948.
6
New York 1949.
3
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husbands). From another point of view, the concept of the multigenerational family
has been introduced, i.e. a family consisting of two or more small (elemental)
families, created as a result of extended relationships: parents — children —
grandchildren, etc. (the extended family, die erweiterte Familie). Aside from such
structural differentiations, ethnology has also introduced differentiations of families
from the point of view of their internal organisation, i.e. according to the power and
prestige structure within the family. Thus, we can distinguish between patriarchal
families, where the function of guiding the family and the power centre is fulfilled
by the father, and matriarchal families, where these tasks are fulfilled by the mother.
In more contemporary societies, we are dealing with egalitarian patterns in the case
of families based on the equal power of the spouses. This is connected with the
issue of inheritance (of property, names, social positions). If this takes place along
the male line, we are discussing a patrilineal family, while if it is along the female
line – a matrilineal family. Depending on the customs prevalent within a given
society concerning the place of residence of the young couple, a division is also
introduced into patrilocal families (living with the husband’s parents) and
matrilocal, where the place of residence is specified by the territorial origins of the
mother. Finally, the concept of neolocal families is introduced when they establish
their household in a completely new place. Depending on the principles behind the
marriage selection, a differentiation is introduced between endogamic and exogamic
marriages in relation to a certain social group. Endogamy is the selection of spouses
exclusively from within a group (social class, clan, caste, tribe, lineage of the clan,
local community, etc), while exogamy – from outside the specified group.
Another important achievement, developed primarily within ethnological
studies and especially by the functionalist school of thought, is the formulation of a
register of family functions. This should be understood as the specific extent of
social consequences that family life creates on the wider society. Of course, the
fulfilling of these functions on behalf of society is simultaneously connected to the
fulfilling of specific tasks towards the members of one’s own family, or it is
connected with the satisfying of various kinds of needs and desires – which are
more or less fundamental. These functions are mentioned in the available
ethnological literature to a greater or lesser extent and they are hierarchised in
diverse ways. The following are listed as being indisputably the most fundamental
and widespread of these:
1) socially-approved forms of permanent sexual relations, social legalisation
of reproduction, the maintenance of the biological continuity of society;
2) the maintenance of the cultural continuity of society through the passing on
of cultural heritage to one’s descendants, the introduction of young people into
society, the first stage of the construction of the social and cultural personality of a
person;
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3) the fulfilling of one’s basic emotional needs, the needs for intimate
intercourse, the construction of a sense of security, maintaining an emotional and
psychological balance, counteracting states of frustration and disintegration of the
personality;
4) fulfilling specific economic, productive or consumptive functions, or else
those dependent only on the socially normalised organisation of consumption within
the family;
5) fulfilling broadly understood security functions through the transfer of
property and social positions, or through guiding the process of socialisation of the
descendants;
6) fulfilling the function of social control over members of the family.
Within ethnological studies, important methodological guidelines were also
developed for the research of the family. We should at least mention the principle of
analysing the family genealogy, about the patterns developed initially for use in
studies on kinship terminology, which was, however, later expanded in
investigations into family structures and became fundamental within fieldwork.
The genesis of sociological interest in the family was completely differently
motivated. As a separate branch of knowledge, sociology of the family came into
existence in the second half of the 19th century. It was born and developed under the
very specific pressure of practical needs. The sudden process of industrialisation of
Western European countries caused many radical changes in the structure, internal
organisation and functions of the family. During the first phase of this intense
industrialisation, these changes often took on the form of disorganisation. The
attention of sociologists and social practitioners turned towards studies of the
family. The historical moment, however, strongly influenced the analyses in that
they bear the stigma of “studies about crisis”, which is also reflected in the
terminology used within the sociology of the family at that time (“disorganisation”,
“disintegration”, “collapse”, “twilight”, “dispersion”, etc.). The industrialisation
process influenced the family in two ways. On the one hand, this is due to the direct
growth in professional employment, which began to include members of the family,
who had previously not been employed outside of the household (women-mothers,
juveniles). This caused a far-reaching emancipation of particular members of the
family, dispersed families, an increase in divorces and cases of youth escaping from
under parental control. On the other hand, industrial society developed a system of
general social institutions, which assumed the functions previously fulfilled by the
family (the educational system, security institutions, cultural and entertainment
institutions). Thus, the family had to adapt to the radically changed general social
circumstances. During the first phase, the difficulties with adapting were, obviously,
huge and the observed disorganisation led people to develop concepts about the
downfall of the family as an institution and as a social group. However, centuries
have passed and the family has survived within all world societies, regardless of
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their level of civilisation development. It is still subject to further processes of
transformation and further adaptation to the changing circumstances of a dynamic
industrial society. Thus, later sociologists observed these phenomena as being a sign
of a crisis of a historically-determined type of family – the patriarchal family of the
preindustrial phase, and not as a symptom of the crisis of the family in general.
Some typical sociological studies of the newer kind, which discuss the
influence of the industrial revolution on the transformation of the former patriarchal
European family into the modern egalitarian family, are the following works: R. M.
MacIver, C. H. Page, Society7, as well as comprehensive studies which are devoted
to discussing the family in specific: E. W. Burgess, H. J . Locke, The Family8. A
significant text on the subject would also be the W. E. Ogburn and M. N. Nimkoff’s
Technology and Changing Family9, as well as many other works of this type. The
following lists some examples: R. N. Anshen, The Family: Its Functions and
Destiny10; M. Horkheimer, Studien über Autorität und Familie11; R. König,
Materialen zur Soziologie der Familie12; T. Parsons, R. F. Bales, Family.
Socialization and Interaction Process13; H. Schelsky Wandlungen der deutschen
Familie in der Gegenwart14; R. F. Winch, R. Mc. Ginnis, Marriage and the
Family15.
How can we summarise these sociologists’ fundamental statements
concerning the process of transformation of the family under the influence of the
shaping of industrial society? The following changes have been indicated. There is a
decrease in the number of members of the family due to the regulation of births,
while additionally the traditional multigenerational family is giving way to small
(nuclear) families. There is a tendency towards contracting marriage at an earlier
age. The amount of progeny within families is decreasing and, as a result, there are
smaller differences in age between siblings. Children leave their parents’ household
relatively early, becoming independent in economic and social terms. The income
from the wage-earning work of both spouses has to a larger extent become the
source of a family’s livelihood; the role of the family as a productive group has
begun to disappear; individual members of the family work in different factories and
places of work. There is a decrease in the number of families living in their own
homes, even though aspirations are aiming higher (as have the chances of them
being fulfilled grown) in terms of furnishing the household with modern equipment.
7
London 1961: 250-274.
New York 1945.
9
Boston 1955.
10
New York 1949.
11
Paris 1936.
12
Bern 1946.
13
Glencoe Ill., 1955.
14
Stuttgart 1955.
15
New York 1953.
8
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The percentage of families within which a married woman earns money by working
outside of the home is increasing, in connection with which the traditional division
of work and of roles in the family between men and women are being obliterated.
The relations between parents and children are also changing. The principle of the
subordination of the young is giving way to patterns of friendly relationships
between parents and their children. The traditional distinctiveness of the social roles
of particular members of the family (the father, the mother, the daughter, the son,
etc.) has been alleviated, because professional employment and personal
emancipation has to a large extent eliminated these differences. The economic
emancipation of the various members of family is closely followed by the
individualisation of their affairs. There is a decrease in the amount of activities
common to all the members of the family (common investments, meals, social life,
etc.). Levels of prestige within the family are to a greater extent determined by
individual characteristics and not by the position within the structure of the family.
The process of becoming significantly more independent from the control and
interference of the neighbourhood or local community is taking place, while the
family must cooperate with multiple institutions of a supra-familial and supra-local
nature, such as the educational system, youth organisations or security institutions.
Generally speaking, the role of the family is diminishing within the scope of many
of the functions it used to fulfil previously towards society and its members. This is
especially true of economic functions and of production ones. The modern family
increasingly limits itself to satisfying the consumer needs of its members, and even
this in an incomplete scope. Security systems (such as disability or old-age pensions,
etc.) to a large extent relieve the family of various securing obligations, while the
school system deprives the family of its educational role and of its role in managing
a child’s professional preparation. However, some functions of the family are being
maintained, such as legalisation of the process of reproduction of the population, the
role of the family in the first stage of the socialisation of young people and its role in
ensuring emotional security. These last functions — according to almost all
researchers — are in contemporary times subject to intensification. From the point
of view of the entire society, it is possible to state that the differences between types
of families are disappearing and that families clearly defined by environmental
conditions are also becoming a thing of the past. Processes of secularisation of
family life and an increase of tolerance both within family relationships and within
approaches of larger communities towards the family have been noted.
Research on the family is currently very widespread within sociology. An
example of this would be the existence of an international platform for the exchange
of research experience within this area. Seminars devoted to the family are
organised within the framework of UNESCO, gathering representatives of various
disciplines, with a prevalence of sociologists. The first of this type of seminars took
place in 1954 and the papers presented there were published in a special collection:
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Recherches sur la familie16. This publication is worthy of some attention as it
contains an attempt at a comprehensive overview of the directions of the
transformations of the family due to industrialisation, while the papers presented
there are based on the most recent studies. Generally, as a principle the conclusions
reached by this seminar confirm the directions of the transformations as discussed
above. Their achievement comes in the form of the depiction of regional and
environmental variants of this process within the historical and economic
circumstances of different countries. The second seminar of this type took place in
1958 and was about the position of the child within the family17. Volume 14 no. 3 of
the 1962 edition of the “International Social Science Journal”, which included an
extensive bibliography, was in its entirety dedicated to the topic of the
transformations of the family. However, within all the works or research centres
discussed here, the issue of peasant or rural families has always held a secondary
position.
Let us now move on to Polish academic output.
Anyone who would at this point in time want to study the rural family in
Poland should primarily refer to two publications from the interwar period: the text
by W. I. Thomas and F. Znaniecki, The Polish Peasant in Europe and America18,
and the widely known multivolume work by J. Chałasiński, Młode pokolenie
chłopów19. The Polish Peasant..., a work based on personal documents (diaries,
letters, etc.), contains an analysis of the role of the rural environment and rural
families on the inhabitants of the countryside and on the migrant. The peasant
family’s strong ties with its farm are emphasized as being its characteristic feature.
The traditional peasant farm is a blending of a business with a household, while the
profession of a farmer is a special vocation, executed not by an individual but by the
whole family. Many features of a peasant family have their source in this aspect.
The multivolume work by J. Chałasiński, based on diary material, in many regards
refers to the image of the traditional peasant family, which can also be found in The
Polish Peasant...,but this constitutes a much more comprehensive approach,
granting access to a view of the family and rural youth both from the perspective of
their ties with the farm and the local community, as well as giving a characterisation
of the stages of human life in the rural environment, widely discussing the cultural,
social and political aspirations of young people, various political and educational
movements and the ideology of the young rural generation. The theoretical
considerations are illustrated with vivid source material – diaries. Both
abovementioned publications are undoubtedly syntheses, attempts at a
comprehensive overview of the silhouette of a rural inhabitant, as well as of the rural
16
Tübingen 1956.
Nancy 1959.
18
Boston 1918-1920.
19
Warszawa 1938.
17
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family and community, while within their interpretations the authors refer to general
social circumstances within which this rural community exists.
Another attempt at a comprehensive and synthetic overview of the countryside
during the interwar period was W. Bronikowski’s text, Drogi postępu chłopa
polskiego20, which contains a chapter about the rural family. However, this is a text
which is saturated with normative elements and does not introduce much new
knowledge about the rural family.
W. Grabski also wrote about the rural family in his text System socjologii
21
wsi . The author considers the family as a factor which shapes the countryside.
Within his considerations, he primarily presents the conclusions reached by F.
Znaniecki and refers to various other monographic texts and observations. Such an
approach cannot be considered as being either innovative or even independent.
On the other hand, Polish ethnography of the interwar period produced either
texts which researched the general problems of the family or the system of kinship
in light of the great ethnological concepts or fieldwork conducted within Polish
territory, primarily dealing with the topic of family rituals. Some typical texts of this
first type are the following: Rodzina w świetle etnosocjologii22, or Rasa, rodzina,
środowisko23. S. Ciszewski’s text Ród24 is set against a wide background of
ethnological material; it contains an abundant amount of bibliographical material
and extracts from reference books. However, it is the output of Polish ethnographic
fieldwork which is much more important from our perspective. As already
mentioned, research at that time was focused primarily on family rituals. Among
studies discussing the ceremonial cycle throughout a human being’s lifetime, a text
which should be mentioned is H. Biegeleisen’s text, U kolebki, przed ołtarzem, nad
mogiłą25. This is a text based on Polish material, but also contemporary and
historical material from outside of Poland, often randomly chosen. The author
wanted to establish the original religious background — Pagan family rituals — by
delving beneath the later Christian layers. This method of analysis results in the
source value of the text for the reconstruction of family rituals in Poland in present
times not being very high. An incomparably clearer and more valuable source comes
in the form of an analysis of funeral rituals written by A. Fischer, Zwyczaje
pogrzebowe ludu polskiego26. It contains a collection and systematisation of material
from all around Poland, even though particular regions are not represented to the
same extent. Very precise bibliographical notes were included not only from Poland,
20
Warszawa 1934.
“Roczniki Socjologii Wsi”, vol. 1, 1936: 79-96.
22
Pamiętnik I katolickiego stadium o rodzinie, Poznań 1935: 225-291
23
Biblioteka socjologiczna, vol. 2, Warszawa 1938.
24
Prace etnologiczne, vol. 4, Warszawa 1938.
25
Lwów 1929.
26
Lwów 1921
21
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but also of comparative literature from other countries. This is a huge collection of
material; however, the interpretative aspect is quite scant. The author gives the
religious background of the rituals, but rather as an account of the motivations as
stated by the rural inhabitants and not as his own theoretical construct. S.
Dworakowski’s text entitled Zwyczaje rodzinne w powiecie wysoko-mazowieckim27
is also devoted to the topic of family rituals. This is a descriptive text, limited in
terms of the area it covers, but it takes into account the entirety of family rituals.
Among numerous works devoted to separate family rituals, one which should be
mentioned is C. Baudouin de Courtenay-Ehrenkreutzowa’s Ze studiów nad
obrzędami weselnymi ludu polskiego28. Another text worthy of mention is K.
Zawistowicz-Kintopfowa’s text Zawarcie małżeństwa przez kupno w polskich
obrzędach weselnych, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem roli orszaku pana młodego29.
Of course, I have only indicated some examples of the type of analyses which
can be used by a contemporary researcher of the rural family as a legacy of the
ethnography of the interwar period. A chapter concerning family rituals was also
included in J. S. Bystroń’s textbook Etnografia Polski30.
Another category of texts which include valuable data or information about
the life of rural families is that of monographs about the countryside. During the
interwar period many such texts came into being. They were undertaken from the
position of various disciplines. I will only mention those which constitute a
meaningful contribution to studies of the rural family. An especially significant
monograph is the one prepared by K. Duda-Dziewierz, Wieś małopolska a
emigracja amerykańska. Studium wsi Babica pow. rzeszowskiego31. In light of the
circumstances at that time, this is a new type of monograph, i.e. a sociological
monograph dealing with one problem, focusing its attention on social and economic
circumstances and the effects of overseas emigration. In terms of the various rural
institutions and groups in existence, the author only discusses those which are
directly connected with the discussed phenomenon, i.e. with emigration. A lot of
space is thus devoted to the family, alongside such social groups as the
neighbourhood and the local community. In 1937 and 1938, K. ZawistowiczAdamska conducted monographic research from within the framework of the
Institute of Social Economy in the village of Zaborów, in the Brzeg Poviat and
Cracow Voivoidship. This text was only published after the war (Społeczność
wiejska. Doświadczenia i rozważania z badań terenowych w Zaborowie32). This is
not a classical monograph which focuses on one problem, though undoubtedly the
27
Warszawa 1935.
Wilno 1929.
29
Kraków 1929.
30
Warszawa 1947: 160-169.
31
Warszawa 1938.
32
Łódź 1948.
28
132
binding motivation is a perspective of the countryside as being a local community,
connected by a system of collaboration and cooperation, both in terms of the
economy and social issues. The author devotes a lot of space to the family,
especially to the division of labour between the genders, farm activities customarily
assigned according to gender and age, and to the issue of the labour of the elderly,
etc. I have only mentioned these two monographs as examples. More or less
extensive data concerning the rural family can be found in many monographs from
this period, even though in none of these did the family constitute an independent
subject of the conducted research.
The collective work Rodzina wiejska jako środowisko wychowawcze33,
published and introduced by Z. Mysłakowski, originated in pedagogical circles. It
contains 5 monographs written by rural teachers. These texts establish the basic
features of rural families in given areas, while next going on to attempt answering
the question of what influence the process of educating the younger generation has
on specific structures of family life and what processes of moulding and conscious
shaping of young people take place there. J. Chałasiński’s analysis Szkoła w
społeczeństwie wiejskim34 is devoted to the issue of the influence of the school and
the family on local communities.
The texts by the lawyer K. Kowalski constitute valuable texts about the
inheritance system. One should especially mention Stosunki rodzinne i zwyczaje
spadkowe włościan35 and Prawne zwyczaje w zakresie wyposażania dzieci i
dziedziczenia36, as well as many others. In terms of collections of sources,
Pamiętniki chłopów37 should be considered as the most important text from the
interwar period, written as a result of a competition announced by the Institute of
Social Economy.
This has been a cursory overview of the output of the interwar period. Its most
characteristic feature was a lack of wider cooperation between individual disciplines
in understanding the common theoretical trend in terms of perceptions of the rural
family. Another characteristic feature would be the fact that Polish research did not
attempt to verify on a wider scale the concepts developed within world studies of the
topic.
III. CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH OF THE RURAL FAMILY
No research of the rural family was undertaken directly after the war. Perhaps
this was due to the difficulties connected to the subject of such studies. Additionally,
33
Warszawa-Lwów 1931.
“Przegląd socjologiczny”, vol. 4: 1938, parts 1-2.
35
Warszawa 1932.
36
Warszawa 1928.
37
Warszawa 1935.
34
133
there was a lack of general theoretical research of the transformation of rural
society, which could have been used as a reference point for constructing an image
of the transformation of the family. It is only in recent years that more works about
the family have begun to appear and more academic institutions have started
researching the topic. What is the situation of Polish academic output within this
scope today, 20 years later?
1. General theoretical considerations of rural areas
I would like to discuss only those texts, which — in my opinion — constitute
a direct inspiration for analyses of the rural family. It seems that K. Dobrowolski’s
analysis from the postwar period, concerning folk culture and processes of cultural
disharmony, constitutes such a text. The first volume of “Etnografia Polska” already
contained a text by this author, entitled Chłopska kultura tradycyjna. Próba
teoretycznego zarysu na podstawie materiałów źródłowych z XIX i XX wieku z
południowej Małopolski38. It contained a definition of traditional peasant culture, a
systematisation of its features, a description of the mechanisms of its functioning
and preservation, as well as discussing its relations with other types of culture. Many
fragments of this text should constitute a point of departure or inspiration for
research on the traditional rural family; especially the following “chapters”: 8. The
power of authority; 10. Tendency to cultural uniformity; 13. Village society in
traditional culture; 14. Interdependencies in traditional culture. The second of K.
Dobrowolski’s theoretical analyses, inspiring primarily for research on cultural
transformations, is the text Trzy studia z teorii kultury ludowej39. This is a theoretical
analysis of the processes and phenomena of cultural disharmony, which apply not
only to material culture, but also to social culture and the sphere of consciousness.
The hypothesis, claiming that cultural disharmony occurs due to the clash of
traditional agrarian structures with the industrial structure and that it must be
overcome in order for culture to achieve a new form of harmony, seems especially
inspirational for studies of the rural family in the process of its contemporary
transformations.
A full, systematic and empirically documented overview of the direction taken
by the transformations of contemporary rural Polish villages is available in the texts
by B. Gałęski. The most important of these would be Społeczna struktura wsi40 ,
which constitutes a synthesis of the results of research conducted over many long
years by the Laboratory of Rural Sociology of the Institute of Agricultural
Economics in Warsaw on a network of representative villages with a total amount of
38
“Etnografia Polska”, vol. 1, 1958: 19-53.
40
Warszawa 1962.
39
134
over 10,000 families. Another text of a more theoretical sociological nature by this
same author would be Chłopi i zawód rolnika41. Within both of these texts, the
author analyses the process of postwar structural transformations in Polish rural
areas and the related social power structures. He reaches the conclusion that within
the new circumstances of socialist industrialisation of the country, social and
economic conflicts are no longer framed by the former division into poor peasants
and rich landlords, and that this division can no longer be used to explain the
structure of social power in rural areas. The author indicates the averaging out of
property structures within agriculture and the diminishing role of fringe groups —
the agrarian proletariat and rich landowners. He considers the following to be the
factors of primary significance: on the one hand, the increase in the non-agrarian
employment of the rural population and therefore the shaping of multi-occupational
communities in rural areas, while on the other – the process of the
professionalization of farm work. In the chapter “Społeczne osobliwości zawodu
rolnika”42, he indicates that the traditional peasant farm – which was a merging of a
business enterprise and a household and which produced crops mainly to meet its
own needs, i.e. the family’s, as well as being only weakly linked to wider market
mechanisms; a farm passed on from generation to generation in the course of
important family events and managed primarily by the family team – has in today’s
times undergone clear, though perhaps not yet mass, transformations. These changes
are moving towards the severing of the identification of a business enterprise with
the household. In the realm of agrarian work, the social principle of division of work
is becoming more noticeable, either as a result of the purchase of machines, seeds or
spores by farms, or else due to the increase in goods economy. This is thus a process
of intensification of business features within peasant farms. These changes are also
connected to significant transformations of the rural family. The author discusses
this in a separate chapter of the text entitled “Rodzina chłopska, więzi rodzinnosąsiedzkie”43. He states that the transformation processes of the contemporary rural
family, broadly speaking, are moving in the direction of a weakening of those
features which differentiate the rural family from the urban one. He indicates that
the professionalization of farm work diminishes its family character. The aspirations
of the younger generation are shaped in accordance with the cultural stereotypes
widespread in urban areas; however, the rigour imposed by individual farms
frequently stifle such aspirations, causing — despite their disapprobation — a
continuation within the framework of traditional principles of family life. An
analysis of the transformation of rural families, as proposed in the texts by B.
Gałęski, aims at tying such studies with an analysis of the professionalization
41
Warszawa 1963.
Ibidem: 46-52.
43
Ibidem: 139-147.
42
135
processes of farm work and the shaping of a diverse vocational structure in rural
areas.
2. Texts presenting the entirety of the transformations of the contemporary rural
family
The first of this type of attempt was published after the war and written by the
publicist J. A. Król, under the title Rodzina chłopska44. This was not of course a text
based on specific empirical studies, but rather an attempt at certain generalisations
of phenomena mentioned by the press or in letters to the editors. One of the
observations especially worthy of some attention, later verified through fieldwork, is
the hypothesis that today’s models of family life have overtaken the development of
local conditions and the process of agrarian industrialisation. They thus remain in
dynamic conflict with the actual living conditions.
Another attempt at a comprehensive view of the transformation process of the
contemporary rural family came in the form of an article by M. TrawińskaKwaśniewska, Z badań nad rodziną wiejską45. It was written on the basis of
questionnaire surveys in four villages, which differed from each other in terms of the
social and vocational structure of their populations. The author primarily discusses
common tendencies taking place in all of the analysed communities. Referring to the
general economic background of the transformation of the rural family, she
primarily indicates that land, as the surest source of income, has today become
depreciated, while the younger generation is often preparing to leave behind
agriculture. The author also indicates sources and elements of the new model of the
family, stating that this is a compromise between traditional folk culture and the
petit-bourgeois career patterns which have for a long time been influential, as well
as the stereotypical models of contemporary mass culture. The analysis of this new
model is conducted by the author by focusing on particular components, thus she
discusses aspirations connected to marriage, the residential house, the social role of
children and youth within the family, the division into work and free time, working
on the farm and one’s profession. This analysis indicates the directions taken by the
transformation, but it does not delve deeper into the mechanisms of change or
conflicts inherent to the introduction of the new model of family life.
The short article by D. Markowska, Les voies d'évolution d'une famille rurale
contemporaine46, constitutes an attempt at a synthetic overview of contemporary
transformations of the rural family. On the basis of monographic research in four
chosen regions of Poland (in 10 villages with a total number of 757 studied
44
“Wieś współczesna”, no. 1: 1960.
“Wieś współczesna”, no. 6: 1961
46
La Pologne au VIIᵉ Congrès International des Sciences Anthropologiques et Ethnologiques,
Wrocław 1964:83-89.
45
136
families), the author attempts to give an overview of the most important
contemporary transformations of the rural family. She also discusses such issues as
the relationship between the character of the local community and the type of rural
family, the economic functions of the family, the educational functions and security
functions.
3. Contemporary monographic fieldwork studies of the rural family
As early as during the interwar period, the Cracow ethnographic and
sociological centre had conducted historical studies and fieldwork under the
supervision of Prof. K. Dobrowolski on the rural family in the Cracow and Upper
Silesian regions. The collected material was not however published until after the
war. It was only in the 1950’s that they were once again taken up by the Department
of General Ethnography and Sociology of the Jagiellonian University. In 1957, M.
Trawińska-Kwaśniewska’s text was published, entitled Sytuacja społeczna kobiety
wiejskiej w ziemi krakowskiej w latach 1880—191447. This is a monographic
analysis based on the author’s research in 9 villages in the Cracow region and on
questionnaires (597 statements by rural women). Even though the title of the text
does not so much mention the rural family as it does the rural woman, the text’s
content is much broader and richer as it analyses the social situation of the rural
woman against the background of the features of the traditional peasant family and
village community. The structure of this analysis is clear, constructed according to
the principles of the course of human life. Thus, the author discusses the situation of
the child within the family, adolescence, the period preceding marriage, the social
situation and position of a young bride within the family, the social role of the
housewife-mother, the situation of the widow, and finally a woman’s old age. This
is primarily an analysis of society and customs. The text is abundantly illustrated
with fieldwork material and descriptions from pre-existing material. Short
summaries of other monographic research of the rural family not within the whole
region but within particular villages, conducted under the supervision of K.
Dobrowolski, were included in “Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Polskiej Akademii
Nauk. Oddział w Krakowie”48 . Two summaries of M.A. dissertations were also
included: D. Markowska’s Gospodarcze funkcje rodziny wiejskiej na przykładzie
wsi Modlnicy w pow. krakowskim w latach 1880—196049, and K. Cholewianka’s,
Przeobrażenia rodziny chłopskiej na Orawie w latach 1880—1957 na przykładzie
47
Prace i materiały etnograficzne, vol. 10, part 2, Wrocław 1957:129-205.
“Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Polskiej Akademii Nauk. Oddział w Krakowie”, July-December 1960,
Kraków 1961.
49
Ibidem: 289-296.
48
137
wsi Piekielnik50. These summaries are preceded by a short version of K.
Dobrowolski’s paper Badania nad rodziną. Uwagi wstępne51, in which the author
discusses the historical and fieldwork method used within the analyses of the family
prepared within the Department of General Ethnography and Sociology of the
Jagiellonian University. He also published a questionnaire for analysis of a family’s
genealogy and gives important methodological advice. For research into the family,
he recommends paying attention to: a) the ties between the family and the local
community, b) the changes in the family division of work connected to the
introduction of improved agricultural equipment, c) changes caused by members of
the family moving into non-agrarian work, d) the role of external institutions in
transformations of family functions, e) the dynamic role of conflicts between the
older and younger generations of rural populations, f) the clashing of individualistic
and collectivist tendencies within the collective life of rural communities. The bookform publication of D. Markowska’s Rodzina w środowisku wiejskim. Studium wsi
podkrakowskiej52 was published as one of the M.A. dissertations of the Department
of General Ethnography and Sociology of the Jagiellonian University. This is an
extended version of the above-mentioned monograph of Modlnica, a village lying in
the vicinity of Cracow. This historical and fieldwork-based analysis describes the
transformation process of the rural family over a period from 1880 to 1963 divided
into three historical eras: from 1880 to 1919, from 1919 to 1945 and contemporary
times, i.e. from 1945 to 1963. The outline of the description of the rural family
within each of these periods is as follows: I. The position of the family within the
rural community. The structure of the family; II. The typology of family; III. The
function of the family: 1. The procreation function, 2. The economic function, 3.
The family and the household, 4. The family as a system of mutual security
insurance, 5. The educational function of the family; IV. The main differences and
similarities between various types of families. The entirety of these considerations is
concluded with some final comments. This is an analysis of the village, which has
been transformed from an agricultural area into a peasant/working-class and multivocational area. The author attempts to answer the question of which changes within
the life of the family have caused this development. Research on the rural family is
still being conducted within the Department of General Ethnography and Sociology
of the Jagiellonian University, among others in Podhale, and recently also the
industrialised region of Tarnobrzeg.
A text which holds a very significant place among contemporary monographs
of rural areas is undoubtedly Z. T. Wierzbicki’s Żmiąca w pół wieku później53. The
author began his research in 1952, aiming to establish the changes which over the
50
Ibidem: 296-298.
Ibidem: 285-289.
52
Wrocław-Kraków 1964.
53
Wrocław 1963
51
138
course of half a century had taken place within the village once described by F.
Bujak54. Both the exceptional thoroughness of this analysis and the fact that it refers
to a monograph concerning this same village from half a century earlier, grants this
text an exceptional position among postwar monographs of rural areas. In the
introduction to the book, Prof. J. Szczepański indicates the three issues that were
discussed within the text. The first of these is a comparison with Bujak’s
description. The second problem concerns an attempt at grasping the
transformations. “The third are issues of the family. This is present in almost all of
the chapters”55. The entire third part “Transformations in the class and social strata
structure and in customs”56 is almost exclusively devoted to the topic of the family.
It can be stated that this exceptionally valuable monograph is an analysis of the
transformations of the rural community, transformations presented as they manifest
themselves within family life.
Research of the rural family was also undertaken by the Department of Polish
Ethnography at the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Polish
Academy of Science in Warsaw. Under the supervision of Associate Professor A.
Kutrzeba-Pojnarowa, monographic research of the region within the former Puszcza
Zielona has been conducted since 1954. Among the various cultural domains which
have been the subject of research, the family and the culture of daily life have also
been investigated. Some initial information about this research has been published
by L. M. Szwengrub: Kształtowanie się kultury dnia codziennego współczesnej wsi
kurpiowskiej57. In the third volume of the collective work Kurpie – Puszcza Zielona,
it is possible to find two essays devoted to the family, namely L. M. Szwengrub’s
Kultura dnia codziennego współczesnej wsi kurpiowskiej, and D. Markowska’s,
Rodzina wiejska na terenie dawnej Puszczy Zielonej.
Monographs about the transformation of the rural family or on the adaptation
of rural families which migrate to urban areas are becoming increasingly more
frequently prepared within the framework of the works of the Committee for
Research of Regions under Industrialisation of the Polish Academy of Science. Such
research was conducted in the district of New Konin within three chosen villages by
B. Ławniczak under the supervision of. T. Szczurkiewicz. The results, in the form of
initial information, were published in the article entitled Z badań nad
przeobrażeniami struktury i funkcji rodziny wiejskiej w Malińcu i wsiach
sąsiednich58. The author discusses the changes in the lives of rural families, caused
by an increase in non-agrarian employment, thus: the decline of the traditional
multigenerational peasant family, the destruction of the former rigorous division of
54
F. Bujak, Żmiąca. Wieś powiatu limanowskiego, Kraków 1903.
Z. T. Wierzbicki, Żmiąca w pół wieku później, Wrocław 1963, IV.
56
Ibidem: 211-369.
57
58
“Zeszyty Badań Rejonów Uprzemysławianych”, no. 4, 1963: 229-241.
55
139
work among individual members of the family, the economic emancipation of adult
youths, and as a result cultural emancipation, the weakening of the former family
and neighbourhood ties within villages and the decline of traditional forms of social
and customary life, both within the family and the rural community. Research of the
family in the Konin district was also undertaken by Z. Tyszka. The research
hypothesis and research project were published as Przeobrażenia społeczne rodziny
pod wpływem industrializacji i urbanizacji59.
The research undertaken by the academic circles from Łódź in the district
under industrialisation near Bełchatów deserves special attention. Comprehensive
research was conducted there, during which close cooperation was established
between ethnographers and sociologists researching the same problems. One of
these was the family. The project behind the conducted sociological research was
presented by J. Lutyński, Rodzina, więź pokrewieństwa, życie domowe i ich
przemiany w związku z procesem industrializacji60. The author chose as his point of
departure the hypotheses of Western European and American sociologists, who had
conducted research into the transformations of the family under the influence of
industrialisation. He aimed to verify these hypotheses on the basis of Polish material
during the course of a monographic analysis of the Bełchatów region. The project of
the ethnographic research was presented by J. Kucharska61. The problems raised by
the ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Bełchatów district included: 1)
multilateral economic ties and interdependencies between the family and the wider
local community, 2) families as social institutions in the process of adapting their
structures, norms of conduct, attitudes towards the traditional patterns in force in
rural areas and towards the current social and economic situation. The ethnographic
centre in Łódź is not therefore duplicating the work of the sociologists, but rather
continuing with the exceptionally valuable research that had long been conducted
under the supervision of Prof. K. Zawistowicz-Adamska on village communities,
collaboration and cooperation. This research has for a long time delivered a lot of
material and ideas for analyses of the rural family, as will be discussed below. The
ethnographic research of the rural family in the Bełchatów district thus approached
the transformation processes of this cell of social life by placing it against the
background and within the fundamental conditions, which the local rural
environment has created.
Research of the rural family was also undertaken in the industrialised district
of Płock. They were preceded by huge wide-scale studies conducted by the
Laboratory of Sociology of Rural Areas at the Institute of Agricultural Economics in
Warsaw as early as in 1961. A wide survey campaign encompassed 4038 rural
59
“Zeszyty Badań Rejonów Uprzemysławianych”, no. 5, 1963: 239-244.
Ibidem: 283-287.
61
Ibidem: 330-337.
60
140
families in total. The results of this research were published in the form of statistical
tables including commentary in the collection Społeczno-ekonomiczna struktura wsi
w rejonie Płocka62. This work included, among other things, data concerning the
structure of the family and living standards. As a supplement to this research,
monographic studies were undertaken in 1962 in one of the villages, in Brudzeń
Duży in the Płock district. Another source of inspiration for this research consisted
of the studies of A. Kłoskowska of the family in the working-class environment of
Łódź63. The research in the Płock rural areas thus referred on the one hand to an
objective image of the structure and living standards and other information about the
family, acquired in the course of questionnaire study, while on the other in a certain
sense a comparative analysis was conducted of the mechanisms behind the shaping
of contemporary cultural models. The results of this research have already been
published (D. Markowska’s Rodzina wiejska w rejonie Płocka64 and Family Patterns
in a Polish Village65).
Among contemporary popular science texts, one which merits some attention
is A. Olszewska-Ładykowa’s Rodzina66, which discusses the state of knowledge
about the contemporary family in Poland, including, among other things, data about
the results of research into the rural family. The author also discusses such issues as
the family and the farm, the model of the family in the rural environment, the
directions taken by the transformations of the rural family.
4. Particular problems of the rural family
Particular issues of the peasant or rural family constitute a very abundant
section of postwar literature on the subject, a section much more extensive than
comprehensive studies on the topic. Therefore, in this overview I will apply the
limitations mentioned in the introduction to this article.
A lot of material that is useful within investigations into the rural family
comes in the form of texts prepared by economists and demographers. The study
conducted by the economist W. Styś, Współzależność rozwoju rodziny chłopskiej i
jej gospodarstwa67, merits some attention from among this group. On the basis of
material collected through researching the history of families, using statistical data
and land registries in 20 villages on the territory of former Eastern Galicia, the
author monitors the changes in the area of farms in connection with the cycle of the
62
Warszawa 1963.
A. Kłoskowska, Wzory i modele w socjologicznych badaniach rodziny, “Studia Socjologiczne”, no.
2(5); A. Kłoskowska, Badania modelu rodziny w łódzkim środowisku robotniczym, "Przegląd
Socjologiczny”, vol. 14, 1962, part 1: 117-124.
64
“Zeszyty Badań Rejonów Uprzemysławianych”, no. 6, 1963: 5-50
65
“The Polish Sociological Bulletin”, no. 2, 1963: 97-110.
66
Warszawa 1964.
67
Wrocław 1959.
63
141
development of families: from the moment of its formation up until the provision of
children and disintegration of the vernacular farm in favour of new family and farm
units. This analysis must be taken into account by every researcher who is interested
in systems of inheritance and in all analyses of the so-called “minor dynamics” of
the development of families.
From among the works of demographers, one should mention E. Rosset’s
article Starzenie się ludności produkcyjnej w Polsce i w świecie68, and the book by
the same author, Perspektywy demograficzne Polski69. Other demographic texts
include: M. Latuch, Ludność wiejska w latach 1960—197070; A. Wyderko, Zmiany
w strukturze wieku ludności rolniczej w latach 1947—195771. The statistical
analysis of questionnaire material by the Laboratory of Sociology of Rural Areas at
the Institute of Agricultural Economics should also be mentioned here, published
within a collective work edited by B. Gałęski, Społeczno-ekonomiczna struktura wsi
w Polsce Ludowej72, in which M. Latuch and M. Pohoski prepared the sixth section
“Struktura gospodarstw domowych” 73.
M. Pohoski’s article, Wychodźstwo ze wsi do miast a obszar gospodarstwa i
rozmiar rodziny74, also merits some attention. The problems of the rural family are
also touched upon by this same author in his book Migracje ze wsi do miast75,
especially in chapter 4 “Selekcja wychodźców z punktu widzenia wieku, płci i
pokrewieństwa w stosunku do głowy rodziny”76 and in chapter 6 “Próba określenia
pozycji zajmowanych przez różne kategorie synów chłopskich w hierarchii
dochodu i poważania społecznego”77.
The exceptionally valuable text by M. Czerniewska, Budżety domowe rodzin
chłopskich78, was developed within economist circles and is based on material
acquired from peasant farms which conducted bookkeeping of their accounts. The
title itself of the text shows its importance for studies of the family. Household
budgets are a measurable illustration of the tasks and functions fulfilled by a family.
We should also add that the author discusses the structure of the budgets within
different families and presents the dynamics of the phenomenon within the the last
15 years, as well as conducting a comparison with the interwar period and
juxtaposition with the norms of adequate sustenance. The only position within
68
“Kultura i Społeczeństwo”, no.1 1961
Warszawa 1962.
70
“Wieś współczesna”, no. 5, 1958: 71-77.
71
72
Warszawa 1961.
73
Ibidem: 198-214.
74
“Wieś współczesna”, no. 9, 1960, 75-90.
75
Warszawa 1963.
76
Ibidem: 71-80.
77
Ibidem: 177-181.
78
Warszawa 1963.
69
142
postwar literature which deals with the work of the rural woman is an analysis
conducted by the economist S. Śliwińska, Próba analizy warunków życia i pracy
kobiet gospodyń wiejskich w Polsce79. On the basis of material from national
censuses and collected questionnaire data from around the country, the author
conducts a calculation of the time spent working by rural women and she gives an
overview of their productive, household and educational responsibilities. These
considerations are concluded with certain postulates addressed to practitioners.
The article by A. Olszewska-Ładykowa and K. Żygulski, Małżeństwa
mieszane na Śląsku Opolskim80, should also be mentioned in the listing of the most
significant works concerned with chosen issues of the rural family. This is a
discussion of the marriages entered into in a village in Opole between local
inhabitants and members of the immigrant population.
We should also mention M. Trawińska-Kwaśniewska’s text, Zagroda wiejska
jako środowisko pracy81. The author discusses the relation between the character of
the peasant family and its farm, as well as the type of farm and its functional
features.
In all of the above-discussed or only mentioned works, the rural family did not
constitute an autonomous subject of the conducted analyses or only some of its
aspects were investigated.
A lot of valuable material concerning the issues of the relations between local
communities and the rural family can be found in the research from the Łódź
ethnographic circles, conducted under the supervision of Prof. K. ZawistowiczAdamska. Aside from the above-mentioned monograph of Zaborów, one should
also mention K. Zawistowicz-Adamska’s article, Pomoc wzajemna i współdziałanie
w kulturach ludowych82. Many M.A. dissertations within the Department of
Ethnography at the Łódź University deal with the occupations of rural women, the
division of economic responsibilities within the family, etc.
Another centre which conducts research on selected issues concerning the
family is the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum in Łódź. Various texts have
been published by this institution, dealing with different aspects of the lives of rural
communities, among others, J. P. Dekowski’s, Społeczność wiejska w Jasieniu83,
which contains a lot of information about the family against the background of the
local community and family rituals. Another such position would be W.
Drozdowska’s article, Grupy rówieśnicze w Załęczu Wielkim84. A third would be S.
79
“Roczniki Nauk Rolniczych”, no. 1-3, 1963.
“Przegląd socjologiczny”, vol. 13, 1939: 89-105.
81
Jak pracuje człowiek, Warszawa 1961: 268-294.
82
Prace i Materiały Etnograficzne, vol. 8-9. Łódź-Lublin 1930-1931.
83
Prace i Materiały Muzeum Archeologicznego i Etnograficznego w Łodzi, no. 1, Łódź 1957.
84
Prace i Materiały Muzeum Archeologicznego i Etnograficznego w Łodzi, Seria Etnograficzna no. 5,
Łódź 1961.
80
143
Matczak’s text, Dziecko w rodzinie wiejskiej85. This article is based on fieldwork
material collected in 25 villages of the Radom poviat. The first part is a discussion
of the traditional attitudes and beliefs connected to the birth of a child and the
understanding of its role within the family, the second part discusses the problems
connected to the physical and mental development of a child, the third – the
participation of the child in production work, the role of school and the participation
of the child in the social life of the village.
It is, however, striking that the issues of family rituals, which dominated
studies of the family in the interwar period, today is a subject much more rarely
undertaken. Among the postwar positions in this area the following should be listed:
M. Szubertowa, Obrzędy i zwyczaje związane z narodzinami dziecka86, a text
presenting the results of research conducted in the village of Istebna (Silesia); J. P.
Dekowski’s, Zwyczaje weselne w pow. opoczyńskim87; S. Bąk’s, Wesele ludowe w
Grębowie Sandomierskie88. This ends the list of positions devoted specifically to
family rituals. As we can see, there is not one text in postwar literature which would
attempt to give a comprehensive overview of family rituals within the process of its
contemporary transformations.
Interest in rural youth was already very acute during the interwar period
among representatives of various academic disciplines and journalists. Even today,
it remains a frequent subject of detailed studies into the rural family, producing huge
amounts of texts that in majority are of a journalistic nature. Therefore, it is
impossible to discuss all of them. I will limit myself to indicating the most
important. These would be the following: J. Grabowicz and B. Tryfan’s Autorytety
w oczach młodzieży ze Skrzyńska89, and the publication by the same authors
“Konflikt pokoleń” czy “konflikt postaw”?90. T. Hunek’s Młodzież techników
rolniczych o sobie i o rolnictwie91; Z. Iwanicki’s Zawód rolnika w opinii młodzieży
wsi podłódzkiej92. Numerous journalistic works by E. Jagiełło-Łysiowa also belong
to this group: Zawód rolnika i nowoczesne środki oddziaływania kulturalnego w
oczach młodzieży93 and O czym marzy młodzież94. Other works from this area
include J. Kraśniewski’s Dziewczęta wybierają zawód95; A. Sianko’s Młodzież o
85
“Łódzkie Studia Etnograficzne”, vol. 5 1963: 131-178.
Prace i Materiały Etnograficzne, vol. 8-9, Łódź-Lublin 1950/1951: 597-616
87
Prace i Materiały Etnograficzne, vol. 7, Lublin 1948/1949: 211-300.
88
“Archiwum Etnograficzne”, no. 18, Wrocław 1958.
89
90
91
92
“Przegląd Socjologiczny”, vol. 17, 1963 no. 1: 119-122
93
94
95
86
144
sobie96 and Młodzi rolnicy o swoim zawodzie97. Part of the collective work edited by
T. Rychlik, Wieś, gospodarstwo, młodzież98, is also devoted to the topic of rural
youth. A lot of material about the young presented with reference to the rural
community can be found in M. Biernacka’s monograph Potakówka99.
5. The fruits of the competition for rural youth diaries.
In 1961, the Union of Rural Youth with the cooperation of the publication
house Ludowa Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza (LSW) and Department of Sociology of
Rural Areas at the Polish Academy of Science announced a competition for the best
diary by someone of the young rural generation. Almost 5 500 diaries were sent in
answer to the announcement. Prof. Chałasiński is in charge of their evaluation. This
rich material serves many researchers as the source of their deliberations on the
contemporary rural family, on the transformation of the attitudes of the youth, so
clearly observable when confronted with the diaries from the interwar period.
Polish humanities have a long tradition of making use of autobiographic
material as a source for analysis of social and cultural transformations.
Undoubtedly, an important position within this output would be the evaluation of
the fruits of this last competition. LSW has announced its intention to publish a
series of source publications, provided with commentary from specialists. An initial
selection, entitled Awans pokolenia100, was published on the occasion of the 20th
anniversary of the People’s Republic of Poland. The introduction was written by
Prof. J. Chałasiński under the characteristic title Młode pokolenie wsi Polski
Ludowej . In 1938, the version of that time of Młode pokolenie was published, in
which the very same Prof. J. Chałasiński began with theoretical commentary to the
analysis of the rural family and local community. These were at that time the
fundamental determinants of the lives of the younger generation in rural areas.
Today, the entire introduction is devoted to considerations of the processes of the
autonomisation of rural youths’ personalities, their striving towards self-expression,
the shaping of historical consciousness. “The striving towards the autonomy of the
self is the fundamental element of the structure within all of the diaries included in
this volume. Their content always deals with human fate, shown from the
perspective of emancipation and the forming of a person within his/her
autonomy”101. Another characteristic element is the structuring of this volume,
96
98
Vol. 2, Warszawa 1963.
99
Warszawa 1962
100
Warszawa 1964.
101
Ibidem: 21.
97
145
which is congruent with the title. The first part, “W gospodarstwie rolnym”, is
preceded by the considerations of E. Jagiełło-Łysiowa, Od chłopa do rolnika102. The
author discusses the process of the professionalization of a farmer’s work, the
process of transformation moving from the silhouette of a traditional peasant to the
modern farmer-businessman, who does not want to succumb to the specificity of his
profession signifying that he must be sentenced to civilisational and cultural
inferiority. The second part, “W nowych zawodach na wsi” , includes an
introduction by B. Gołębiowski, Organizatorzy urbanizacji wsi103, discussing the
opportunities which stands before the younger generation due to the development of
non-agrarian workplaces functionally connected to rural areas or of sites of modern
agricultural services. The third part, “W mieście”, begins with commentary written
by F. Jakubczak, Awans młodego pokolenia wsi w mieście104, which discusses
migration processes and the process of adaptation of rural youth to living in the city.
This autobiographical material was also used in other publications. J.
Chałasiński wrote the article Młode pokolenie wsi w procesach migracji i
ruchliwości społeczno-kulturalnej105. Other more important positions based on this
collection of sources, which merit being mentioned are the following: F.
Jakubczak’s Perspektywy młodzieży wiejskiej w świetle zbiorów pamiętników106; B.
Weber’s Ideały życiowe pamiętnikarzy107; M. Trawińska-Kwaśniewska’s Zmiany
społecznych funkcji szkoły w środowisku wiejskim108. The article by F. Jakubczak
Małżeństwo i rodzina w pamiętnikach młodego pokolenia wsi109 merits special
attention from a researcher of the contemporary rural family. It discusses the new
aspirations and models of family life, indicating the growth of the expressive and
integrational function of the family. This rich collection of diaries has only been to a
small extent discussed. Further analyses will undoubtedly deliver interesting
material for the discussion of particular problems connected to family life and to
more comprehensive approaches.
6. The national Polish conference on the transformations of rural families
It is only in recent years that the disciplines concerned with the social life and
culture of rural areas have found a broad platform for the exchange of ideas and
experiences. Following the initiative of the Department of the Sociology of Rural
Areas at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology connected to the Polish Academy
102
Ibidem: 35-50.
Ibidem: 261-273.
104
Ibidem: 507-523.
105
106
107
108
109
103
146
of Science in Warsaw, annual conferences are organised devoted to specific rural
problems, bringing together the representatives of various disciplines: sociologists,
ethnographers, economists, demographers, geographers, planners, journalists and
social activists. The third such conference took place between the 7th and the 9th of
May, 1964, this time devoted to the transformations of the contemporary rural
family. The material from this conference was in its entirety published in the
periodical “Roczniki Socjologii Wsi”110. Even though the articles from this volume
could be classified as belonging to various of the above-discussed types of studies, I
will however separate them out for two reasons. They constitute a more or less
complete overview of the studies conducted within this scope. Additionally, the
conference reached many shared conclusions, even though it constituted a collection
of representatives of various disciplines. I would like to focus for a moment longer
on this last issue. First of all, however, I will present some comments concerning the
articles collected in this volume. It begins with B. Gałęski’s article, Socjologiczna
problematyka rodziny chłopskiej111, in which the author attempts to give a definition
of the traditional peasant family, the taxonomy of its fundamental features, which
differentiate it from other families, as well as outlining the directions taken by its
current transformations. Finally, he states what sociological issue-based research of
the peasant family should be concerned with. The author concludes in his ending:
“The sociological issues of the peasant family can be summarised as 1) the
determination of the distinctiveness of the pattern of this family, a distinctiveness
which is a consequence of the existence of peasant economy or more broadly — of
the family-based model of production, which is carried over in expanded form onto
the functions of local community, 2) the investigation of the connection between the
family and the farm for the determination of the system of the functioning of this
cohesive whole, 3) the investigation of the contemporary changes occurring within
peasant families, the description of the fundamental discrepancies between the
aspirations of members of the family and the requirements of the farm, the economic
and supra-economic functions of the peasant family — discrepancies, which are the
cause behind the disharmonic pattern of the contemporary peasant family, 4) the
establishment of the factors influencing changes in the contemporary peasant family
and the forms in which its adaptation to industrial society is taking place and which
outline the path to solving the contradictions this family is currently pervaded with”.
The second position is J. Turkowski’s text Przemiany rodziny wiejskiej w
warunkach industrializacji i urbanizacji kraju112. This work is an attempt at
systematising the most important effects of the process of industrialisation on the
sphere of family life. The author bases his article on fieldwork conducted by the
110
“Roczniki Socjologii Wsi”, vol. 2, 1964, Warszawa 1965.
Ibidem.
112
Ibidem.
111
147
Department of Sociology at the Catholic University of Lublin, the results of the
research conducted by the Institute of Occupational Medicine and Rural Hygiene in
Lublin and diaries sent in to a competition in the magazine “Zorza”, announced in
1962. The author begins with the features of the traditional peasant family and refers
them to contemporary transformations. He discusses the disappearance or limitation
of production functions within rural families in connection to industry and nonagrarian occupations, as well as writing about the increase in the educational tasks
of the family and the process of intensification of emotional ties within intrafamilial
relationships.
The third position is D. Markowska’s article Kierunki przeobrażeń
współczesnej rodziny wiejskiej113. This constitutes a synthesis of monographic
studies conducted in four different regions of the country. The author discusses the
following issues: 1. The position of the family within the village community, 2. The
models and patterns of family life, 3. The functions of the family.
F. Jakubczak’s Kształtowanie się integracyjno-ekspresyjnej funkcji rodziny
wiejskiej114 is another study based on diary material and constitutes a development
of the author’s above-quoted analyses.
The next section of this volume begins with M. Czerniewska’s Budżety
domowe rodzin chłopskich115. This work is based on material acquired over many
years from individual peasant farms which kept agricultural accounts (1300 farms).
The first part presents the structure of the household budgets of peasant and
working-class families, as well as the dynamics of nominal and real earnings within
a socialised economy and in individual farms. The second part discusses the
dynamics of the consumption of edible articles within peasant families from
1936/1937—1962/1963, as well as the consumption level of these same articles
depending on the groups in terms of standards of living in 1961/1962. Additionally,
a comparison was conducted of the consumption of edible articles in 1961/1962
within peasant and working-class families in light of norms concerning appropriate
levels of sustenance.
The next position is A. Wyderki’s Zmiany w strukturze wieku ludności
rolniczej116 . This article discusses these changes divided into three categories: 1)
heads of families, 2) the entire population residing on farms, 3) the population of a
productive age residing on farms. The analysis encompasses the years from 1947 to
1957, and for one region of the country it is conducted up until 1962. The highest
level of “aging” of heads of families has been noted in industrialised regions, the
lowest in agricultural ones – both those with agriculture of a traditional character,
but also in “modern” agricultural regions. Analysis of the age structure of the entire
113
Ibidem.
Ibidem.
115
Ibidem.
116
Ibidem.
114
148
agrarian population indicates a growth in the participation of the youngest and
oldest age groups, and a decrease in age groups in the productive stages of their
lives.
The next work is that of J. Przychodzeń: Dobór terytorialny i społeczny
małżeństw wiejskich117. This is a discussion of the results of the 1957 research of the
Laboratory of Sociology of Rural Areas at the Institute of Agricultural Economics.
This data indicates that in all of the traditionally agricultural and settled regions of
the country, the principles of the selection of spouses are based on the closeness of
territorial origins and the choice of a partner from the same or similar area group of
farms.
Konflikty małżeńskie na wsi w świetle spraw rozwodowych118 is a text written
by J. Grabowicz. On the basis of court material, the author states that the reason
behind the majority of divorces is the brutality of the spouse. The increase in the
amount of divorces would confirm the move towards gaining autonomy and defence
of one’s own dignity, which was so clearly made apparent within the abovediscussed diaries. In his conclusions, J. Grabowicz states that the increase in the
amounts of divorces in rural areas is a symptom of the crisis of the traditional
patriarchal family.
The next work was written by the ethnographer A. Kutrzeba-Pojnarowa: Rola
społeczna dziecka w rodzinie wiejskiej119. The author rightly raises the issue that the
position of the child is a very compelling example, revealing the aspirations of the
rural population and the cultural transformations which have already taken place.
The author introduces new research problems and proposes cooperation between
sociologists and ethnographers. She also presents an overview of the output of
fieldwork ethnography covering this topic.
The article by D. Czauderna, Studia nad więzią rodzinną w zapleczu wiejskim
kombinatu tarnobrzeskiego120, is a discussion of the results of monographic research
of the villages around Tarnobrzeg. The author discusses traditional forms of family
and neighbour ties in villages. She analyses the process of the loosening of local ties
caused by the undertaking of non-agrarian work, and as a result a significant
reduction in the amount of available free time and the establishment of new social
contacts in the work-place.
R Siemieńska’s article Tradycyjna rodzina spiska i jej powojenne
przemiany121 constitutes a discussion of the results of monographic research of the
Grochalowy Potok rural hamlet of the village of Rzepisk in the Podhale region. The
author discusses the family in social and economic conditions which have not
117
Ibidem.
Ibidem.
119
Ibidem.
120
Ibidem.
121
Ibidem.
118
149
changed radically since the war. Traditional rural institutions have retained their
vitality in this area. Nevertheless, the community is aware of the general social
transformations taking place in the country and is expecting that in the nearest
future it will also experience significant changes.
The next position is T. Kukołowicz’s article Przypuszczalne kierunki
przemian rodzin chłopów-robotników zatrudnionych przy budowie kombinatu
azotowego w Puławach122. This is an analysis of 389 families, tied through their
work with the nitrogen plant in Puławy, currently under construction. The author
attempts to foresee the processes of movement away from agriculture and the
tendencies to remain on the farm, on the basis of the research of objective data, such
as the age of those employed, their family situation, the size and character of the
farm, as well as on the basis of opinion polls, i.e. concerning the motives behind
undertaking non-agrarian work and their plans for the future.
W. Galant’s Zmiany stosunku rodziny wiejskiej do szkoły związane z procesem
uprzemysławiania się rejonu konińskiego123 is yet another article. The author
conducted research in three villages in this district, in which he recorded the opinion
of parents concerning the usefulness of schools and the parents’ plans concerning
the future occupations of their children. In the opinion of the inhabitants of the
villages, a primary education is considered a necessary minimum for a
contemporary human being in any circumstances. Simultaneously, it is considered
that a primary education is enough for those children who are to run farms in the
future. An agricultural education has not gained acknowledgement as being
indispensable for an individual farmer, while a secondary school giving a general
education or a non-agrarian vocational school is considered to be a movement away
from agriculture. The youths who filled out the survey also declared wide-spread
aspirations towards non-agrarian professions.
In Z. Tyszka’s article Przeobrażenia społeczne rodziny związane z
uprzemysławianiem i urbanizacją124, he presents the results of surveys into the
adaptation of families with rural origins, employed and residing in the newlyestablished industrial centre in New Konin. The changes in the lives of these
families are considered on three planes. 1. He discusses the participation of
particular members of the family in the life of the town and states that it is limited
to an occupational role, which indicates that the process of adaptation is taking
place very slowly. Simultaneously, the families maintain close relations with the
rural environment, from which they originate. 2. He gives an account of the changes
in these families’ standard of living. He observes a distinct advancement in the
material furnishings of the household and in the use of cultural goods (radio,
122
Ibidem.
Ibidem.
124
Ibidem.
123
150
television, the press). 3. The author analyses the changes in the intrafamilial
relationships. As a result of the men earning their money outside of the household,
the women become the actual heads of the families. The traditional pattern of the
division of roles is very much still alive: the man works to earn a living and
maintain the family, the woman is in charge of maintaining the household.
Processes of the professional activisation of women are not very advanced.
Another issue is touched upon by M. Trawińska in her article Model rodziny i
małżeństwa w opiniach studentów I i IV roku studiów Wyższych Szkół Rolniczych125.
This is a comparison of the opinions and aspirations connected to marriage and the
family, submitted by first- and fourth-year students of agricultural universities. The
questioned group in majority consists of youths of peasant origins, planning in the
future to take up work in rural areas. The author discusses: views on the most
appropriate age for entering into marriage, opinions concerning the optimal amount
of children in a family, views on a child’s education, the conditions which facilitate
the beginnings of a young couple’s life, the social function of marriage, the
personality pattern of one’s partner.
The part of the book with articles ends with L. M. Szwengrub’s Sytuacją
zawodową kobiet w spółdzielniach produkcyjnych i Państwowych Gospodarstwach
Rolnych126. The author indicates that women in cooperatives and State Agricultural
Farms have a much lower chance than men of gaining agricultural professional
qualifications, which creates discrepancies between the spouses’ educational and
professional status or causes the professional passivity of women.
All of the works included in this volume, even though being undertaken on
different territories and from the position of various academic disciplines, agree on
the direction and main manifestations of the contemporary transformations of the
rural family. The development of non-agrarian sources of income and the
establishment of agricultural service institutions are shown to be the main causative
factors in the process of the formation of new social and economic types of families.
However, the occupational diversification of rural families does not entail a
diversification of the types of culture of daily life. The concurrence of the
stereotypical aspirations within the scope of the household, the style of daily life, the
children’s professional careers is striking in all of the investigated communities. In
comparison with the results of A. Kłoskowska’s above-mentioned research,
concurrence can be noted between these aspirations and the typical aspirations of the
working-class population of urban areas. It is generally stated that a decline of the
traditional multigenerational family is taking place, while there is an intensification
of egalitarian marriages within the internal organisation of the family. This is also
expressed in the striving towards the “romantic” selection of a partner for marriage
125
126
Ibidem.
Ibidem.
151
and friendly relations instead of subordinate ones between parents and children.
Another widespread observation concerns the increase in the significance of the
daily life style and the emotional and expressive function within the entirety of
family ties. Within these texts, the terms “modern family” or “partnership family”
are used to designate the set of features or aspirations towards such a model.
However, the question remains whether the transformations taking place nowadays
within the rural family are making it more similar to a specific type of urban family
and if so – to which. There is a lack of adequate discernment of the structure and
function of the urban family and different types of urban families, which does not
allow for the establishment of a reference frame. What is noticeable about the
discussed volume is that the majority of the presented fieldwork-based analyses
were conducted within areas under industrialisation, and as a matter of course they
discuss families in the process of transformations caused by industrialisation. These
are thus analogical or similar economic and social circumstances as those which
gave birth to sociology of the family within Western science in the second half of
the 19th century. The accounts from this fieldwork do not find enough of a
counterweight within the material from territories, which are not directly influenced
by industrialisation, but within which important transformations of family life are
taking place due to general social transformation processes, as well as in connection
to the modernisation of agriculture and changes in the civilisational environment of
rural areas.
IV. FINAL COMMENTS
The presented current state of research raises certain general reflections. The
first of these concerns the type of studies of the rural family being conducted. This
comment applies not so much to the techniques or scope of the conducted research,
but rather about the approaches taken towards the analysed reality. Thus, it is
possible to indicate a few theoretical and methodological trends, which are clearly
outlined within these works.
The first type consists of specific historical analyses, which present the rural
family in the process of transformation involving the last three generations. This
type of study is dominant in all ethnographic fieldwork. Their theoretical foundation
is undoubtedly the concepts of K. Dobrowolski’s school of thought. In texts of this
type, a specific section of the historical process in all its temporal and spatial
circumstances is reconstructed, while contemporary reality is treated by the
researcher as being a link in the historical process. It is only the comparison of
many such studies of small local communities which can lead to a discovery of
more general regularities. According to the assumptions of this concept, a functional
analysis should be taken into consideration very widely; however, the monographs
thus far prepared are characterised rather by a predominance of statements referring
152
to the dynamics of transformation. On the other hand, studies of cooperation,
undertaken by the Łódź ethnographic community, to a wider extent include
functional inquiries and attempts at typological approaches.
The second significant type of research consists of analyses inspired by
sociological concepts, operating with a certain model of the social system. The
inquiries are aimed at establishing the principles of the functioning of this model.
This type of analysis is present in B. Gałęski’s article. Of course, these models also
have the form of historical considerations, but they are not as rigorous in terms of
the reconstruction of historical and territorial circumstances.
The third type of considerations consists of deliberations aimed at presenting
the changes incurred by industrialisation on the example of the family. One could
risk making the statement that the results of this type of research to an equal extent
constitute a contribution to the formulation of a theory of the family and to the
theory of social changes under the influence of industrialisation. One could also list
here works which do not have clear theoretical assumptions, but rather serve the
purpose of registering reality; one could also mention journalistic observations,
which provide many interesting claims and formulate hypotheses.
My second comment deals with the process of the integration of different
disciplines, or rather the tendency towards such a move which has begun to appear.
In practical terms, this signifies a postulate of comprehensive research. Therefore,
this gives rise to the question of what such research should entail? The joint
conducting of fieldwork? The exchange of research experiences? The use of
conclusions already verified within other disciplines? The search for an answer to
these questions was also conducted during the discussions developed by the abovementioned conference. The comprehensiveness of the approach — according to B.
Gałęski — is based on the joint elaboration of one theoretical trend by
representatives of related disciplines, which could be referred to by all the work
conducted, even that which would constitute minor contributions.
The third and final issue concerns the possibilities and tasks facing
ethnography of the rural family. It seems that ethnography should approach the
processes of modern transformations from within the framework of the conceptual
categories of cultural theory, while a sociologist will approach them from the
framework of categories of the social system. This would thus constitute not a
difference in the object of research, but in the way that it is perceived. The longterm aim of such analyses is also different. Through historical generalisations,
which are formulated as a result of specific fieldwork, the works of ethnographers
should refer to the general theories of the family that have been developed and
continue to develop within ethnological studies. This discipline’s output is vast, and
the comparative background extremely broad: from civilised societies to so-called
“primitive peoples”. Analogically, the representatives of other disciplines, even
though they might actively participate in the processes of conducting
153
comprehensive research, will refer to the fundaments of the strictly general
statements, developed within their discipline, for use in the development of their
own field of study. This vision of more general theoretical references does not
undermine the statement which claims that creative discoveries are usually achieved
at the point of contact between different disciplines.
Translated by: LINGUA LAB, www.lingualab.pl, Miłosława Stępień
This project is financed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education as
part of the National Program for Development of Humanities, 2012-2014.

CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH ON THE RURAL FAMILY IN

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