Language use and self-identification: The case of Lithuanian Poles
Issue: Vol 9 No. 2-3 (2015) Post-Soviet identities: Ethnic, national, linguistic, and imperial
Journal: Sociolinguistic Studies
Subject Areas: Gender Studies Linguistics
Abstract:
Based on newly collected quantitative and qualitative data from two research projects on language use and attitudes carried out in Lithuanian cities and towns, this paper aims to report and contrast current identity tendencies and their links with the linguistic behaviour of Lithuanian Poles permanently residing in the capital Vilnius and in smaller towns. The study reported here involves a description of the Polish community and review of its background, analysis of the sociolinguistic peculiarities of Polish and identification of areas in which it is used, an evaluation of the role of Polish in the identity of its users as well as changes in the process of identity formation. The data covered in the article consist of 281 responses from Lithuanian Poles in the two research projects. The quantitative data were supplemented with the findings from qualitative research, so this article analyses 14 interviews, or nearly six hours of recorded data. The study shows that different urban contexts are characterised by varying linguistic behaviour. The interview material reveals the importance of the interrelationship between ethnicity and citizenship as well as between identity and the place of residence.
Author: Kinga Geben, Meilutė Ramonienė
References :
Beresnevičiūtė, V. (2005a) Etninių grupių socialinės integracijos dimensijos šiuolaikinėje Lietuvos visuomenėje. Etniškumo studijos [Dimensions of Social Integration of Ethnic Groups in the Contemporary Society of Lithuania. Ethnicity Studies]. Vilnius: Socialinių tyrimų institutas/Eugrimas.
Beresnevičiūtė, V. (2005b) Etninės grupės ir socialiniai kalbos aspektai [Ethnic groups and social aspects of language]. Lietuvos etnologija / Etnology of Lithuania 5(14): 113--126.
Daukšas, D. (2008) Pase įrašytoji tapatybė: Lietuvos lenkų etninio/ nacionalinio tapatumo trajektorijos [Identity inscribed in the passport: the trajectories of ethnic/national identity of Lithuanian Poles]. Lietuvos etnologija / Lithuanian Ethnology 8: 57--72.
Ehala, M. and Zabrodskaja, A. (2011) Этнолингвистическая витальность этнических групп стран Балтии [The ethnolinguistic vitality amongst ethnic groups in the Baltics]. Диаспоры / Diasporas 1: 6--60.
Geben, K. (2008) Język internautów wileńskich [The language of Vilnius internauts]. Poradnik Językowy / The Linguistic Guide 3: 62--72.
Geben, K. (2010) Vilniaus lenkų kalbinė savimonė, daugiakalbystė ir tapatybė [Linguistic awareness, multilingualism and identity of ethnic Poles in Vilnius]. In M. Ramonienė (ed.) Miestai ir kalbos / Cities and Languages 153--173. Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla.
Hogan-Brun, G., Ozolins, U., Ramonienė, M. and Rannut, M. (2009) Language policies and practices in the Baltic states. Tallinn: Tallinn University Press.
Hogan-Brun, G. and Ramonienė M. (2003) Emerging language and education policies in Lithuania. Language Policy 2: 27--45.
Hogan-Brun, G. and Ramonienė M. (2004) Changing levels of bilingualism across the Baltic. Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 7(1): 62--77.
Hogan-Brun, G. and Ramonienė M. (2005a) The language situation in Lithuania. Journal of Baltic Studies 36(3): 345--370.
Hogan-Brun, G. and Ramonienė M. (2005b) Perspectives on language attitudes and use in Lithuania’s multilingual setting. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 26(5): 425--441.
Joseph, J. E. (2004) Language and identity: national, ethnic, religious. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Juozeliūnienė, I. (1996) Individual and collective identity. In M. Taljūnaitė (ed.) Changes of identity in modern Lithuania. Social Studies 194--213. Vilnius: Lithuanian Institute of Philosophy and Sociology.
Juška, A. (1999) Ethno-political transformation in the states of the former USSR. Ethnic and Racial Studies 22(3): 524--553.
Kabzińska, I. (2009) Między pragnieniem ideału a rzeczywistością. Polacy na Litwie, Białorusi i Ukrainie w okresie transformacji systemowej przełomu XX i XXI stulecia [Torn Between the Search of the Ideal and Reality. Poles in Lithuania, Byelorussia and Ukraine at the Time of the Transformation of the Political System at the Turn of the 21st Century]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Letter Quality.
Kasatkina, N. and Beresnevičiūtė, V. (2010) Ethnic structure, inequality and governance in the public sector in Lithuania. Etniškumo studijos / Ethnicity Studies 2010(1-2): 7--25.
Kasatkina, N. and Leončikas, T. (2003) Lietuvos etninių grupių adaptacija: kontekstas ir eiga [Adaptation of Ethnic Groups in Lithuania: Context and Process]. Vilnius: Eugrimas.
Koseła, K. (2003) Polak i katolik: splątana tożsamość [Pole and Catholic: a Tangled Identity]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo IFiS PAN.
Krupowies, M. (1999) Repertuar wokalny a identyfikacja etniczna i kulturowa ludności polskojęzycznych terenów Litwy [The vocal repertoire and ethnic-cultural identity of the Polish-speaking residents of Lithuania]. In J. Porayski-Pomsta (ed) Sytuacja językowa na Wileńszczyźnie. Materiały sympozjum „Socjo- i psychologiczne uwarunkowania sytuacji językowej w Wilnie i na Wileńszczyźnie / Linguistic Situation in the Vilnius Region. Materials of the Symposium „Socio- and Psycholinguistic Peculiarities of Languages Used in Vilnius and the Vilnius Region” 40--53. Warszawa: Elipsa.
Kurzowa, Z. (1993) Język polski Wileńszczyzny i kresów północno-wschodnich XVI-XX wieku [The Polish Language in the Vilnius Region and in the North-Eastern Border Area in the16th-20th Centuries]. Warszawa – Kraków: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Leončikas, T. (2007) Etniškumo studijos 1: Asimiliacija šiuolaikinėje Lietuvos visuomenėje: švietimo sektoriaus pasirinkimas / Ethnicity Studies 1: Assimilation in Contemporary Lithuanian Society: Choosing the Language of Education. Vilnius: Socialinių tyrimų institutas/ Eugrimas.
Lietuvos spaudos statistika [Statistics of Lithuanian Press] (2005) Retrieved on 2 February 2013 from www.lnb.lt/doc/bkc/statistika2005.pdf
Lietuvos statistikos metraštis [Statistical yearbook of Lithuania] (2011). Retrieved on 2 February 2013 from www.stat.gov.lt/uploads/metrastis/1_LSM_2011_Lt.pdf (2012-04-29)
Lietuvos švietimas skaičiais [Lithuanian Education in Numbers] (2006) 42. Retrieved on 2 February 2013 from www.smm.lt/svietimo_bukle/docs/apzvalgos/lietuvos%20svietimas%20skaiciais.pdf
Lietuvos švietimas skaičiais [Lithuanian Education in Numbers] (2010) 27. Retrieved on 2 February 2013 from www.smm.lt/svietimo_bukle/docs/apzvalgos/Bendrasis%20lavinimas_2010.pdf
Marshall, C. and Rossman, G. B. (2006) Designing Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Mędelska, J. (1993) Język polski na Litwie w dziewiątym dziesięcioleciu XX wieku [The Polish Language in Lithuania in the 1990s]. Bydgoszcz: Wydawnictwo Uczelniane Wyższej Szkoły Pedagogicznej.
Miniotaitė, G. (2006) Europos normatyvinė galia ir Lietuvos užsienio politika [Normative power Europe and Lithuania’s foreign policy]. Politologija / Politology 3(43): 3--19.
Nowicka, E. (1997) Ethnicity and the content of Polishness: Polishness and its relation to ethnic minorities in contemporary Poland. In M. S. Szczepański (ed.) Ethnic minorities and ethnic majority: Sociological studies of ethnic relations in Poland 69--82. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego.
Pileckas, M. (2003) Rytų Lietuvos gyventojų nacionalinės sudėties kaita atkūrus Lietuvos valstybingumą [Changes in the national structure of East Lithuanian population after the restoration of Lithuanian’s independence]. Geografija / Geography 39(1): 40--45. Retrieved on 2 February 2013 from www.e-library.lt/resursai/LMA/Geografija/G-40.pdf
Ramonienė, M. (ed.). (2010) Miestai ir kalbos [Cities and Languages]. Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla.
Ramonienė, M. and Geben, K. (2011) Особенности языкового поведения литовских поляков [The specifics of linguistic behavior amongst Lithuanian Poles]. Диаспоры / Diasporas 1: 86--120.
Savukynas, V. (2000) Lietuvos lenkai ir rusai: dvi skirtingos laikysenos [Lithuania’s Poles and Russians: Two different perspectives]. Politologija / Politology 2(18): 67--84.
Silverman, D. (2007) Doing qualitative research. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore: Sage Publications.
Statistikos departamentas [Statistics Lithuania] (2002) Vilniaus apskrities gyventojai pagal lytį, amžių, tautybę ir tikybą [Population of Vilnius Region by Sex, Age, Ethnicity and Religion]. Vilnius: Statistikos departamentas.
Statistikos departamentas [Statistics Lithuania] (2004) Retrieved on 2 February 2013 from www.stat.gov.lt/uploads/docs/Vilniaus_saviv.pdf
Turska, H. (1995) O powstaniu polskich obszarów językowych na Wileńszczyźnie [On the Origins of Polish Speaking Localities in the Vilnius Region]. Vilnius: Mintis.
Vaitekūnas, S. (2006) Lietuvos gyventojai per du tūkstančius metų [Population of Lithuania over two milleniums]. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas.
Vilkienė, L. (2010) Daugiakalbystė didžiuosiuose Lietuvos miestuose [Multingualism In Lithuanian cities]. In M. Ramonienė (ed.) Miestai ir kalbos / Cities and Languages 27--68. Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla.
Wei, L. and Moyer, M. G. (2008) Research methods in bilingualism and multilingualism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.