Historical Ethnolinguistics

The article discusses the ethnolinguistic aspect of the work of Jan Karłowicz. Karłowicz is known primarily as an editor and author of three dictionaries and editor of the monthly Wisła. Karłowicz’s strictly ethnolinguistic work is Słownik mitologii polskiej [Dictionary of Polish Mythology], discovered in 2017, which belongs to historical ethnolinguistics. The author relies largely on: 1) cultural relics; 2) the belief that rural communities are a more primitive evolutionary stage in the development of a nation than the nobility and bourgeoisie; 3) comparative research aimed at identifying what is ancient in Polish mythology; 4) an understanding of the term mythology that is different from its contemporary meaning. The aim of such research is to show the complexity of the Polish view of the world and of humans against the general Slavic and even much broader background

Art · Literature · Mythology · Central European Literary Studies · Classics · Historical and Cultural Studies of Poland · History · Language and Culture