Inny tytuł:

Everyday life in smaller towns of Vistula Pomerania at the end of the nineteenth and first decades of the twentieth century. Changes in material conditions and transformations of customs and behaviour

Wydawca:

Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Miejsce wydania:

Warszawa

Opis:

410 p. : ill. ; 25 cm ; Bibliography (p. 375-398). Indexes ; Summary in English.

Abstrakt:

The book is the fruit of research into the social history of Vistula Pomerania in the days of civilisation changes occurring in the region from the early nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Processes of multifaceted modernisation gained pace in the second half of the nineteenth century. That time brought up significant changes also in the life of the inhabitants of small towns situated in the eastern peripheries of the Prussian monarchy. The phenomenon was reinforced by the strengthening of capitalist relations, development of a dense railway network and a construction boom financed both by private investors, as well as local and central governments. All that, together with the development of self-government institutions and growing political awareness of large sections of the petite bourgeoisie had a direct impact on the learning and shaping new mental patterns and habits. Processes of modernisation coincided with some political developments of fundamental importance. The period of economic stabilisation and relative prosperity was brought to a close by the World War One. The end of the war saw a large part of Vistula Pomerania within the frontiers of the newly independent Poland, and this meant numerous cultural, civilisation and demographic changes for the province. The whole era was characterised also by the development of nationalisms, which caused remarkable transformations within small, but heterogeneous communities of small towns. The purpose of the book is to define and describe in a synthetic way most characteristic areas of small-town everyday life. To present the causes, course and effects of changes taking place in those towns, with special emphasis on some constant factors in small-town everyday life, independent of outside circumstances and general situation. Pomeranian towns, being a characteristic part of the socio-cultural landscape of the region, were the places of intensive interactions between various groups of their inhabitants. As local centres of trade (markets and fairs), of culture and education (schools, societies, religious communities), and of economic life (craft workshops, manufacturing plants), they constantly interacted also with their rural neighbourhood, influencing the development of regional folk culture. In the era of modernisation transformation in its capitalistic version their role as the transmitters of various models and platforms of cultural exchange increased enormously. A picture of the presented phenomena was based on diverse source material, including both archival documents issued by state organs and local governments, the Catholic Church and religious communities, and the Polish and German press, all kind of handbooks, a rich array of memoirs, and an analysis of non-written sources: photographs, architecture, technical infrastructure, interior decorations and furnishings. After defining the elements of the eighteen-century everyday life and analysing social phenomena and everyday behaviours it was possible to present a picture of typical life of inhabitants of smaller towns in the region of Vistula Pomerania. A long time range, spanning the period from the turn of the 1890s to the outbreak of World War II, but not marked with any significant events in political history, made it easier for the author to observe both evolutional and revolutionary changes, together with the persistence of some customs and habits, regardless of changing economic and political circumstances. The book on everyday life in Pomerania towns can become a starting point for research into social history of such type of urban centres and their rural neighbourhood and at the same time can offer a platform for comparative studies with other regions of Poland or European continent, while its establishments and conclusions can be useful both for historical studies, and for ethnology or cultural studies.

Szczegółowy typ zasobu:

Book

Identyfikator zasobu:

oai:rcin.org.pl:238960 ; 978-83-63352-94-3

Źródło:

IH PAN, call no. II.14133 ; IH PAN, call no. II.14132 Podr. ; IH PAN, call no. II.14165 ZHP Gd. ; click here to follow the link

Język:

pol

Język streszczenia:

eng

Prawa:

Creative Commons Attribution BY-ND 4.0 license

Zasady wykorzystania:

Copyright-protected material. [CC BY-ND 4.0] May be used within the scope specified in Creative Commons Attribution BY-ND 4.0 license, full text available at: ; -

Digitalizacja:

Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Lokalizacja oryginału:

Library of the Institute of History PAS

Dostęp:

Open