Ryszard Tomicki Eugeniusz Frankowski: Ethnologist Iberianist

Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa, 29 – Abstracts
Ryszard Tomicki
Eugeniusz Frankowski: Ethnologist Iberianist.
Remarks of an Occasional Biographer
Interest in the Iberian aspect of the biography of Eugeniusz Frankowski (18841962), one of the most eminent Polish ethnologists of the first half of the 20th century, originated unexpectedly, thanks to a personal contact of the author with Professor Maria Frankowska, the widow of Eugeniusz. The author thus terms himself
an „occasional biographer,” while the subject of his academic investigations he calls
„Iberica Frankowsciana.”
The essay raises a number of questions concerning usefulness of biographical
writings for the history of scholarship. It also deals with establishing limits to the
biographer’s inquires and a hierarchy of the detailed information he is gathering.
The author believes that the biographer’s duty is to present a portrait as complete as
possible; moreover, biographies should be readable.
Biographical writings on scholars belong to the history of scholarship sensu
largo, including not only the history of ideas but also of people and institutions.
Frankowski’s career deserves an interpretation both in the frame of historiography
of Polish-Spanish contacts and relations, and in the context of the history of Polish
ethnology and Iberian studies.
Keywords: Frankowski, Iberian studies, ethnology, biographical writings
Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa, 29 – Abstracts
Zbigniew Jasiewicz
Adam Fischer – Work, Personality, and choices in Extreme Situations
The article discusses the academic work and personality of Adam Fischer (1889–
1943), whose contribution to the development of Polish ethnology is noteworthy. In
the interwar period, between 1918 and 1939, he held the Chair of Ethnology at Lvov
University and was president of the Polish Ethnological Society. Moreover, he was
editor of the periodical Lud, and published a lot, including handbooks for ethnology. An exponent of the social and national roles of ethnology, he developed cooperation with worldwide scholarship. In 1939, after Lvov was occupied by the Soviet
Union, Adam Fischer, in an extremely difficult political and material situation, continued his work at a Russian university, and exchanged correspondence with the
Russian ethnologist Dmitriy Zelenin. The author also demonstrates the significance of biographical studies for the history of scholarship.
Keywords: history of Polish ethnology, biographies of scholars, scholars—personality, scholars— extreme situations
Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa, 29 – Abstracts
Grażyna Kubica
An Anthropological Biography: Andrzej Waligórski
The article tackles methodological problems connected with biographical research on anthropologists carried out by other anthropologists. The author takes the
perspective of Michael Herzfeld and his concept of “anthropologizing history,” i.e.,
giving voice to those who are deprived of it. Another source of inspiration is George
Stocking’s idea of the contextualized history of the discipline seen as the background
of contemporary assumptions and controversies.
Andrzej Waligorski’s (1908-1974) biography is analyzed from various perspectives: the liberal and intellectual background of Cracow; the influence of Bronislaw
Malinowski and of British anthropology; Waligorski’s fieldwork in Kenya and colonialism; his lectureship at the Jagiellonian University and, finally, the marginalization of both the person of Waligorski and the discipline of anthropology.
Keywords: Andrzej Waligorski, Bronislaw Malinowski, biographical research, colonialism, Luo, history of anthropology.
Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa, 29 – Abstracts
Włodzimierz Wincławski
Jozef Obrebski and Jozef Chalasinski with Bronislaw Malinowski
and Florian Znaniecki in the Background
Sociology underwent major changes between both World Wars. Empirical sociology began to dominate and field work conducted according to the methodology of
the Chicago School was developing. Similar changes also took place in Polish sociology where developments were influenced by Florian Znaniecki’s sociological school
in Poznań. This was also a period of intensive development in ethnological research,
due to Bronisław Malinowski’s seminar in the London School of Economics which
was attended by many Polish ethnologists and sociologists. The young generation of
social scientists soon dominated sociological research. Among the most important
of them were sociologist Józef Chałasiński, a student of Znaniecki, and ethnologist
Józef Obrębski, a disciple of Malinowski. New developments in field research allowed these two to meet and to cooperate in the field of empirical sociology.
Keywords: Józef Obrębski, Józef Chałasiński, Florian Znaniecki, Bronisław Malinowski, history of Polish sociology, empirical field work, generation change in Polish sociology
Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa, 29 – Abstracts
Mirosław Chałubiński
Stanislaw Ossowski and Jozef Obrebski
The text deals with personal and professional relations between Jozef Obrebski and Stanisław Ossowski. The author points to similarities in the methods of research which both men used in investigations in the field of social sciences. He shows
that the two scholars focused on an interdisciplinary approach in their work. He also
discuses the role of the humanities in the two scholars’ work, as they aimed at providing answers to questions which are of major importance from the perspective of
the social sciences.
Keywords: Jozef Obrebski, Stanislaw Ossowski, social sciences, interdisciplinary research in the humanities
Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa, 29 – Abstracts
Tanas Vražinovski
Jozef Obrebski and Macedonian Ethnography
The work of the ethnologist and sociologist Jozef Obrebski on Macedonian folk
culture was not known in Macedonia until now. But recently his three books have
been published, as well as the album of photographs of Porech in the 1930s. Thanks
to these publications we know more on Macedonian folk life in the first part of the
20th century. Thus, very valuable material from the Archives of the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst, USA will enrich Macedonian folklorists, anthropologists
and sociologists, as it contains a treasure of theoretical thoughts and methodological
ideas. Folklorists will find unique and original material, e.g. songs performed with
different customs, legends, especially those in honor of Prince Marko, etc. Ethnologists will discover illustrative material containing folk customs and their origin, descriptions of dreams, blessings and the curses, beliefs in magic, especially in health
magic. The sociologist will discover distinct sociological data on the rural Porech
life, while the theologist will get some information related to the pre-Christian religion, influence of religion over the group, relations between social structure of the
village and ritual activities. The science of the law will find some data about the customary law and morality of behavior.
Keywords: Macedonia, folklore, rural culture, ethnography
Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa, 29 – Abstracts
Iryna Alunina
BelArusian research on Polesie before Jozef Obrebski
The article focuses on knowledge of ethnography of Polesie which the Belarusian scholars managed to gather before Obrebski. Among them one should mention historians, journalists, and folklorists such as Adam Kirkor, Pawel Szejn, Pawel
Szpilewski, Pawel Bobrowski, Iwan Zieleński and others, who collected broad material on housing, food, dress, family, custom, habits, and beliefs of the Polesians.
In fact, they were amateurs, forerunners of academic ethnographers. In the 1890s,
important work by Mitrofan Downar-Zapolski originated, while in the early 20th
century a classics work by Jefim Karski on the Belarusians was published. Among
most prominent Belarusian students of Polesie one should also name Aleksander
Sierżputowski and Izaak Sierbow who organized and conducted ethnographic expeditions to Polesie in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Predecessors of Jozef Obrębski paid special attention to ethnographic and language specifics of Polesie, a region often viewed in terms of archaic and exotic features, as well as its uniqueness and isolation. Obrebski – the first professional ethnologist and sociologist working in Belarusian and Ukrainian Polesie – utilized work of
his predecessors of Polish, Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian origin.
Keywords: ethnology, ethnography, historiography, ethnological study of Polesie
Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa, 29 – Abstracts
Iryna Czarniakiewicz
The role of Jozef Obrebski in research on the Polesie family
Jozef Obrebski investigated the family in Polesie as ethnologist and sociologist
and he described the problem in both diachronic and synchronic approaches. He
emphasized the ethnic aspect in connection with the processes of modernization of
the traditional society and cultural system in this territory. Obrebski was particularly interested in the transformations in the Polesie traditional family. He analyzed
the problem in his works Polesie archaiczne and Panska szkola i muzyckie dzieci,
both written on the basis of his ethnosociological expeditions to Polesie in 1934-37. J.
Obrebski analyzed the big traditional family and its patriarchal structure as the basis of economic and social life in the traditional peasant society and main resource of
its traditional culture. His works are very valuable for modern investigations of the
Polesie family, due to rich factual material which the author obtained from his respondents, and cited in detail. His description of the system of big traditional family
became the excellent example of the functional analysis in the investigation of such
problems, especially some processes of the disintegration of the traditional family.
Keywords: Polesie, traditional family, peasant society, modernization of traditional
culture
Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa, 29 – Abstracts
Jacek Serwański, Katarzyna Wrzesińska
Jozef Obrebski in the Institute for the Study of Nationalities, 1934-1939
In 1934, Jozef Obrebski commenced his collaboration with the Institute for
the Study of Nationalities (IBSN) in Warsaw, which he successfully continued until
World War II. Under the auspices of the IBSN and its associates, Obrebski developed
a broad range of academic activities which included his fieldwork in the region of
Polesie in Eastern Poland in 1934-1937. This project resulted in a series of articles
by Obrebski in major Polish journals; two of these, “The Ethnic Problem of Polesie”
and “The Present Inhabitants of Polesie,” appeared in Sprawy Narodowościowe, a bimonthly published by the Institute. Moreover, within the framework of this institution, Obrebski delivered a series of lectures on “Static and Dynamic Approaches in
Ethnic Studies,” and, as its representative, participated in major meetings of sociologists in pre-war Poland. In 1936, he was nominated member of the Institute, alongside many eminent personalities.
The period between 1934 and 1939 occupies a prominent place in Obrebski’s
career, by virtue of his achievements in ethnography and sociology, in particular. It
brought him recognition based on his most significant study of Polesie, done in collaboration with the Warsaw Institute.
Keywords: Obrebski, ethnic research, Polesie, national minorities, ethno-sociology
Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa, 29 – Abstracts
Anna Engelking
Jozef Obrebski: Ethnologist and Sociologist of Warsaw
Jozef Obrebski studied ethnography and ethnology with Kazimierz Moszynski
and Kazimierz Nitsch in Cracow and social anthropology with Bronislaw Malinowski in London, but did his independent work in Warsaw, where in 1934-1946 he was
active among both sociologists and ethnologists. Until 1939 Obrebski worked in the
Institute for the Study of Nationalities, and under its auspices conducted ethno-sociological fieldwork in the Polesie region. He was also Vice-director of the National
Institute for Rural Culture, where he focused on peasant universities and memoirs,
and village migration. Obrebski was active in the Polish Sociological Institute and
became editor-in-chief of the Sociological Library, as well as co-editor of Przegląd
Socjologiczny. He lectured on sociology at the Free University in Warsaw and Lodz.
In 1940-1944, he was active in clandestine structures of academic life in Warsaw under the Nazi occupation.
After World War II Obrebski at first held the Chair of Ethnology of Lodz University, but continued his career at Warsaw University. But soon he left Poland for
good; this stage in his career began with guest lectures in the U.K., continued with
field work in Jamaica and subsequent work for the United Nations in New York,
where he spent the final twenty years of his life. The only Warsaw (and Polish) institution with which he established contacts in the later period (in 1960) was the Polish
Sociological Association.
Keywords: history of ethnology and sociology, academic institutions in Poland
Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa, 29 – Abstracts
Ewa Nowicka
Jozef Obrebski’s Imagined Communities
The article deals with some ideas postulated by Jozef Obrebski, making reference to the opinions of his contemporary Polish scholars on the one hand, and
on the other hand to fashionable ideas well-known in sociology and anthropology
among some Western scholars today. The latter have now rediscovered the perspective which some fifty years ago was already well established in Polish sociology and
ethnology, where, for a number of reasons, questions of the nation and ethnicity
have always occupied an important place. Some Polish sociologists have, for a long
time, used research methods and concepts which are in fact specific for anthropology. Polish sociology thus offers many research methods and interpretations which
in the West belong to anthropology.
Obrebski deserves particular attention, by virtue of his inspiring and original
combination of interest and experience as an ethnologist and sociologist. He defines
the ethnic group as an imagined community, existing in the community consciousness, marked by unique relations with respect to ethnic identity. His approach to
ethnicity can be linked and compared to the much later views of Fredric Barth.
Keywords: Obrebski, anthropology, sociology, ethnography, nation
Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa, 29 – Abstracts
Aleksander Posern-Zieliński
Jozef Obrebski and Anthropology of the Caribbean
The task of the article is to reconstruct the context of Jozef Obrebski’s research
in Jamaica in the 1940s and evaluate his final results as well as his methodological
approach. Obrebski, an experienced field anthropologist and sociologist, was sent to
Jamaica by the London School of Economics. He was a member of the research team
working for the project know as West Indian Social Survey, sponsored by the British
colonial administration. The main object of investigation was the Jamaican peasant
family and socio-economic conditions of Afro-American village communities. During his stay in Jamaica (1947-1948) Obrebski, an adherent of the functional approach
in social anthropology, concentrated himself not only on particular cases, but also
tried to explain the specificity of this complex colonial society, formed on the background of African roots, slavery system and British administration. Obrebski’s manuscripts, thus far unpublished, reflect a very interesting interpretation of Jamaican
people on the eve of the island’s independence. It is also worth to note that his studies were conducted during the first stage of the serious anthropological research in
Jamaica and therefore present a great value for all interested in Caribbean cultures.
Keywords: ethnology, anthropology, Obrebski, Jamaica