Religijność a tożsamość kaszubska na przykładzie młodych Kaszubów. Zarys zagadnienia w świetle literatury i wstępnych badań antropologicznych

Abstrakt

Overview of Literature and Preliminary Anthropological Research Findings The article discusses Kashubian religiosity in the context of their ethnic identity. In the existing literature, religiosity and Kashubian identity are often connected, which in the face of rapid social change affecting spirituality and religiosity may be both  utdated and inadequate for the modern sense of ethnic identity, especially among the young people of Pomerania. I begin with an overview of the existing literature on Kashubian religiosity. In the historical literature religiosity appears as a factor of identity of the Kashubians. The sociological perspective reveals religiosity as the  roup’s ethos while the anthropological point of view focuses on the Kashubian religious culture (religion connected with folk culture). Therefore, the main motivation behind this study was to indicate the need for deeper ethnographical research on Kashubians’ religiosity (with its manifestations and diversity), and to attempt to create a foundation for this research. In my fieldwork I investigated declarative attitudes of the Kashubian youth (born between 1986–1993) to religion (their own idea of their religion). I understand religiosity as a practice of ritual life, a relationship with the Church, the values and piety. I did not take into account the transcendent dimension of religion, and also tried to avoid understanding religion as the only aspect of identity. In conjunction with the existing literature, this preliminary research opens the discussion of young Kashubian religiosity, especially in the context of their self-image. The field research was conducted from May 2012 to January 2013, mainly in rural districts of Sierakowice and Linia.