The academic journal has been published since 1997. Initially it has been available in a form of monothematic issues. From the 21st volume, the Journal has been published every six months and it deals with problematic matters encompassing all history fields. Scientific articles, materials, reviews and all types of notes connected to history and academia are published here. The journal is addressed to a large circle of both professional and amateur historians. The journal does not charge the authors any fees for publishing an article. Punkty MEiN: 100 ISSN: 2082-6060 e-ISSN: 2449-8467 Submitted articles rejection rate : approx. 20%
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Copyright (c) 2025 Agnieszka Muchowska http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Ancient Greek Peasants: Myth and Reality from a Gender Perspective
In this article, I will explore the idyllic conceptions of peasantry in the Ancient Greek world. From the Homeric poems and Hesiod’s Opera, ancient Greeks considered land tenure the most honorable way to have property. This symbolic creation was present in the minds of the Greeks and was part of children's education. Land tenure was the basis of political participation and the recruitment of soldiers in historic times. Manual workers, even specialized ones, merchants, and long-distance traders were considered inferior to land owners. It was believed that those who had land to lose would defend the country better. However, ancient Greece was also a patriarchal society. In their system, only men could have land, inherit it as first sons, and mature into adulthood. Women were seen as dependent, eternal minors who were expected to marry once adolescent and produce as many children as possible. This ideal sex-role division did not correspond with reality but was used to explain Greek political problems throughout its history. I will use historical events such as the archaic colonization process or the Spartan crisis of the fourth century B. C. to analyse how ancient sources either blamed women for political problems or disregarded them altogether.
Copyright (c) 2025 Elena Duce Pastor http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Realism and Idealization in the Representation of Peasants in Virgil’s Georgics
It is commonly said that Virgil, in the Georgics, outlines a realistic picture of the work in fields and rural life, with its hardness and challenges; this is true only to some extent. He provides, in fact, an explication for the origin and necessity of work that is substantially a theodicy, since the end of the Golden Age is traced back to Jupiter’s decision, aimed at pushing men to develop their skills and to discover arts and techniques: work is therefore justified as a means to redeem human dignity, which was lowered by slumber and idleness. Besides, the life of peasants is praised as a blessed condition, as it is far from war and violence: it is presented indeed as the last stronghold of Justice (personified as a deity) that left human world. Thus, realism gives way to idealization of peasants with the moral purpose to elevate them as a model of the precious values that Roman society had long been lacking: rightness and peace.
Copyright (c) 2025 Giampiero Scafoglio http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Social Reality and the Tasks of the Roman Farmer. Agriculture as a Frame of Morality
Farming activities defined the Roman cultural matrix and played a crucial role in the construction of the empire. Aware of this, Roman patricians associated the rural world with the values of the Republic itself, promoting depictions of farmers as ideal citizens based on the imagery of agricultural labour. This paper aims to describe and analyse the symbolic language of morality through the image of the farmer in Latin literature, using the actual dimensions of the described activities as reference. We will address the practical aspects of farming and assess how they contribute to the construction of abstract symbolism. Our exploratory approach combines semiotics with knowledge of ancient agricultural practices to decode and describe symbolic constructs. Through the application of semiotic principles and the identification of ‘signs of meaning’, we intend to present the sources of these symbols before their appropriation by Roman propaganda in Latin literature. Furthermore, we seek to explore and understand how the ‘symbols of morality’ were recognised in Roman popular culture.
Copyright (c) 2025 Nelson Henrique da Silva Ferreira http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Peasants and Monsters in Third-Century Gaul. Rethinking the Jupiter Columns
In his panegyric for Emperor Maximian, delivered on April 21, 289, the Gallic rhetor Mamertinus draws a significant parallel between the Giants defeated by Jupiter and Hercules, and the Bagaudae, rebellious peasants of Gaul subdued by the imperial armies led by Maximian Herculius. Although Mamertinus belonged to the wealthy and educated urban elite, who typically regarded peasants with disinterest or contempt, it is plausible that his imagery was inspired not only by classical myth but also by monuments distinctive to Gaul – namely, the Jupiter columns. These columns, depicting a horseman trampling an anguiped, likely derived from local religious motifs prevalent among the less Romanized inhabitants of the countryside. Despite Mamertinus’ strongly negative depiction of the Bagaudae, his description hints at an interaction between rural traditions and the literary practices of the Romanized urban elite, suggesting a deeper cultural exchange than sources usually reveal.
Copyright (c) 2025 Carlo Ferrari http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Rural Community in the Estates of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Miechów in the XII–XVIII Centuries – Introductory Remarks
The purpose of this article is to analyze the position of the peasant population in the estates of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher until the collapse of the Polish state in 1795. The development of the order and its territory was possible thanks to numerous endowments, the location of villages under German law and the purchase of villages around Miechów thanks to which the Miechów key, consisting of twenty-six villages, was formed by the 16th century. Its area was dominated by the peasant population, divided into categories ranging from peasants to tenants, with different social and property statuses. Peasants, as subjects of the order and renters of the feudal lord's land, were obliged to pay rents in the form of natural products, victuals and money and from the end of the 14th century serfdom began to be introduced which developed here. Some of the peasantry unable to find their way in the realities of backbreaking labor fled the monastic estates or tried to make their way into other social states (including the noble state) through promotions or marital colligations. The nupturiens most often came from the territory of the land key of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher, but there were cases of marriages with people from outside this area.
Copyright (c) 2025 Sebastian Jan Filus http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
This analysis encompasses the following subjects: Annales seu Cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae, Liber beneficiorum dioecesis Cracoviensis and the lives of Saints Stanislaus and Kinga. I would like to synthesize all the information that Długosz included about peasants in his works. I will show the terminology he uses in relation to ‘peasants’, the contexts in which they appear, and the most important detailed information. I will ask whether these studies reveal a ‘picture’ of peasants and his personal attitude towards them. The article consists of the following parts: 1. Terms used to refer to peasants and the countryside, 2. The countryside – elements of the natural and cultural landscape, 3. The rural community, 4. Home, family, farm, 5. Oppression and slavery, misfortune and poverty, 6. The monarch's attitude towards peasants, 7. Peasants' attitude towards faith and the Church, 8. Peasants' attitude towards townspeople, 9. Peasants' participation in wars, Summary
Copyright (c) 2025 Jerzy Rajman http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Situation of Children from Annulled Marriages in Peasant Communities of Late Medieval Poland – Legal Regulations vs. Reality
This article explores the complex situation of peasant children born into families that were initially considered legitimate by both the Church and society, until marital impediments were proven in court. The annulment of a marriage, and consequently the dissolution of the family, resulted in a complete change in their previously stable living situation. A cautious attempt has been made to estimate the number of families and children who may have been affected by this issue. Subsequently, the legal consequences of marriage annulment for the children are examined, with particular attention given to their legitimacy and the issue of their custody. The diverse practices of ecclesiastical courts are analyzed, alongside the exploration of the motivations guiding the judges in issuing their decisions. Attention has also been drawn to the fact that the issue under discussion generated certain social repercussions and represented an atypical situation within the family structures of the period.
Copyright (c) 2025 Małgorzata Kołacz-Chmiel http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Peasant Portraits. Rural Self-Representations in the German Lands Since the Middle Ages
This article examines self-representations of peasant communities in the German lands since the Middle Ages. It focuses on two well-documented contexts of collective expression: key political ideals in the records of imperial villages (i.e., rural polities without an intermediate territorial lord) on the one hand, and shared cultural meanings emerging from numerous writings as well as objects deposited in the tower spheres of prominent buildings on the other. Consultation of charters, law books and visual evidence suggests that autonomy, agency and accountability were three principles that imperial villages held in high regard, while (divine) protection, adequate portraiture (of user communities at specific points in time) and projection (of messages as well as customs to posterity) appear as salient features in tower capsule deposits. Taken together, these so far neglected sources provide important insights for deepening our understanding of peasant values and priorities.
Copyright (c) 2025 Beat Kümin http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
‘The Famous Misters Mayors’ of the Šiauliai Economy in the 17th Century: the Cultural Elites of Peasants and Townspeople?
Most of the mayors (Pol. wójt) were wealthy individuals who, however, originated from peasant or urban backgrounds. Some also had noble ancestry, such as the mayor from Joniškis, Renald K. Łukoski, and the mayors of Šilėnai and Ramulėnai, Gregorz Juchniewich, etc.). For their service, they received a volok of land exempt from taxes. Thus, the mayors belonged to the socio-economic elite of villages and towns. Kinship ties, friendship, and neighborly relations allowed the office of 'mayor of rural commune' or town to be maintained for a long time (even for several generations). Close relations with the administration of Šiauliai economy enabled them to influence not only the peasants but also certain administrative decisions. Mayors and benchers acted as intermediaries between the village and the manor. The duties of the mayor according to the law from 1649 (reiterated almost in the same wording in 1657) were as follows: to ensure that the subjects lived in the holy Catholic faith and piety, to protect royal properties and estates, to grant vacant plots of land to peasants who were to pay rent, and to oversee the vacant plots. The village heads were also required to participate in court proceedings at the manor. Sources indicate, however, that the influence of the mayors was conditioned by one more factor – their education or ability to read and write. This phenomenon can be observed from the first half to the end of the 17th century (they could even write in Cyrillic, although they usually wrote in the Latin alphabet). The mayors consistently signed their names 'in their own hand' on various documents, tax registers, etc. It can be assumed that the ability to read and write enabled the village heads to actively participate in court matters (which was their obligation according to the manor law), to collect and establish taxes, to represent the interests of the subjects of Šiauliai economy in disputes and conflicts with the administration, with the tenants of the economy, and even with the king, in higher courts (e.g., the Treasury Tribunal of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), as well as to draft petitions.
Copyright (c) 2025 Rita Regina Trimonienė http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Family and Community. Godparenthood in a Bohemian Village Community in the 17th and 18th Centuries
The paper uses a micro-level analysis of godparenthood as a tool for studying the social structure and personal networks in the rural milieu in Bohemia. The ritual kinship created between a child and its godparents during the baptism carried an essential symbolic value. It represented the social bonds, networks and hierarchies in the village, and reflected the traditions and individual aspirations of community members. The research concentrates on the Červená Řečice domain (South Bohemia) from the beginning of the 17th century, when the first parish register of baptism appeared, to the turn of the 18th century. The Bohemian rural society underwent significant transformation in this period: from the strengthening of subjection and the recatholization after the Thirty-Year War to the birth of civil liberties. The paper examines godparenthood as an indicator reflecting both the enforcement of ecclesiastical authority and the prominence of habitual godparents – individuals commonly chosen for baptismal ceremonies.
Copyright (c) 2025 Markéta Skořepová http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Sexual Life of the Half-savage. Polish Peasants’ Sexuality in the Eyes of Outside Observers
The distinctiveness of peasant sexuality in the Polish lands has been described at least since the beginning of modern times. Initially, it aroused the interest of the clergy, who were responsible for inculcating Christian principles, including sexual ethics, in the faithful. Other insightful observers, such as noble poets (the best example being Wacław Potocki), also recorded their observations. From the time of the Enlightenment, peasant sexuality became the object of concern for reformers and state agents, and soon afterwards the subject of reflection for folklorists and ethnographers, until the decline of ‘traditional’ rural culture in mid-20th century. These few centuries of observation, description and analysis developed a number of typical explanatory models, in which the concept of nature usually played a central role. Virtually all outside observers attributed the peculiarities of peasant sexuality to their closer relationship with nature, but evaluated this closeness differently. Moreover, both their assessment and what they were willing or able to observe depended mainly on their views, their perceptions of the rural population, and their own sexuality and beliefs about this sphere of human life in general.
Copyright (c) 2025 Tomasz Wiślicz http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Role Model of the Village wójt in Southern Poland Until the End of the Eighteenth Century in the Light of Oaths of Office
Research on role models in Polish historiography has a long tradition, but until now it has usually focused on the representatives of the elite and upper classes: monarchs, queens, bishops, knights and nobles. The author of this study set out to identify the ideal model of a rural mayor in southern Poland until the end of the 18th century, using the content of official oaths as his source material. The choice of source was due to the performative nature of the oath, which always contained a model of institutional behaviour. The starting point for the discussion is the spread of the oath of municipal village headmen in the Polish translation by Bartłomiej Groicki and its evolution towards meeting the expectations of neighbours from the community, but above all of the manorial authorities. The mayor, chosen from among the peasants, manoeuvred between the manor and the cottage – it was the neighbours who presented candidates for mayor to the manorial authorities, but the final decision always rested with the landowner. As the most important official of the rural community and the head of the rural court, the village administrator undertook to settle disputes fairly, be loyal to the owner of the village, maintain order and collect taxes reliably. The oaths also confirm the growing dependence of the rural administration on the manorial authorities during this period. The results of the study provide a new perspective on the institutional model of the mayor's role as a key element of rural administration.
Copyright (c) 2025 Piotr Kołpak http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Image of Peasants in Serf Lists: South Bohemia in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
Serf lists are a unique Bohemian archival source, which was originally created by the manorial administration for the purpose of the effective registration of orphans and, from the beginning of the eighteenth century, all serfs. These lists were updated every year and even small children under one year of age were recorded. In estates where these lists were maintained, they tended to be drawn up by manorial officials until the abolition of serfdom in Bohemia in 1848. The serf lists aimed to record all persons with a permanent residence each village. The list for each village record was organized according to the social structure, from the highest to the lowest social stratum. The first section was reserved for full peasant holders, followed by smallholders, cottagers, and inmates. In a final section were recorded widows and orphans. The main purpose of this paper is to present the serf lists as an essential and informative archival source which provides indispensible information for historical and genealogical research. The authors seek to show how the serf lists can be used to study phenomena such as peasant mobility and migration, military service, servanthood, rural social structure, and craft apprenticeship.
Copyright (c) 2025 Josef Grulich, Václav Černý http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Transhumant Vlach Shepherding in Dalmatia and its Influence on Natural Environment in the Early 19th Century as Perceived by French
This article aims to show how the traditional pastoral economy practiced by a large part of Dalmatian society was perceived by the French administration in Dalmatia, which became part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1806 and of the Illyrian Provinces in 1809. The analysis is based on the documents of the French National Archives and the French Ministry of Defense, which were created for the use of Napoleon's civil and military authorities. Within this context, the study focuses on the specific issue of how traditional pastoralism affected the Dalmatian environment. The findings indicate that, although the Morlachs might appear to be the least likely group associated with environmentally harmful practices, French administrative documents clearly suggest otherwise. These sources portray the Morlachs as suffering from famine due to the barrenness of the land—an outcome attributed to their own actions, such as burning grasslands, uprooting vegetation, and excessive deforestation. The Morlachs failed to recognize their own role in causing the degradation that led to their misery.
Copyright (c) 2025 Wojciech Sajkowski http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Rural Population and the Birth of the Small Intelligentsia in the Early 19th Century Czech Lands (using the Budweis Diocese as a Case Study)
Schooling and education became a prerequisite for the emergence of modern society, a necessary condition for the success of national emancipation, and a path to creating a modern Czech intellectual elite, many of whose members were also recruited from the countryside. For the sons of rural craftsmen and peasants, a future career as a clergyman, teacher, or subaltern clerk was a safe way to join the ranks of the future small-town or rural elite. Many of them subsequently played an essential role in the national movement. The educational journey of rural youths is well documented in the sources of individual schools. This process can be illustrated by the situation in the Budweis diocese in the first half of the 19th century. Among the students of the grammar schools in Budweis, Písek, Jindřichův Hradec and Klatovy, or the Philosophical Lyceum and the Bishop's Seminary in Budweis, the peasant students were the second or third largest social group, and in many cases, a kind of ‘family or village study tradition’ can be traced.
Copyright (c) 2025 Miroslav Novotný http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
‘Here Szela, the hero, was made’. Selected Issues From the 19th Century Scientific Discourse Around the Forest Germans
The article is concerned with the changes undergone by the Polish scientific discourse (mainly ethnographic) on the phenomenon of the so-called ‘Forest Germans’ (in Polish: Głuchoniemcy) in the 19th century, i.e. from the late Enlightenment to 1914. The author analyses excerpts from scholars accounts by, among others, Franciszek Siarczyński, Wincenty Pol, Józef Łepkowski, Oskar Kolberg, Józef Szujski and others, as well as narratives appearing in reaction to them in the press. The history of the Głuchoniemcy – as descendants of medieval German settlers in the Carpathian Foothills, who became completely Polonised in the 19th century, and the discourse, both academic and public, constructed around them, reflects the mechanisms governing descriptions of peasant history and culture in Polish ethnography and related branches of the humanities, and related to aspirations for national independence.
Copyright (c) 2025 Marta Raczyńska-Kruk http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Peasant's Spaces. Changing Perception of Space in 19th-20th Century Hungary
Peasant chronicles from the early 19th century are quite rare, and a corpus written over several generations is almost unique in Hungary. The records of the Gyüker family of Külsőbőcs (today Bőcs, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county), written over four generations with varying intensity, cover the period between 1787 and 1944, a century and a half. With the help of this source material, I am trying to answer the question of how the transformation of the world and the way of seeing the world began in the villages, especially among the peasants. How did they show signs of globalization? How did different generations, in their memories and then in their contemporary records, see their own immediate and wider environment? How did they see events and changes in the country and the world from this perspective? I will also compare the records with peasant, pastoral and educational sources from other regions to see how generalizable the main changes observed in the Gyöker family are.
Copyright (c) 2025 Gábor Koloh http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Role of Empathy in Shaping Social Attitudes – Selected Images of Peasants in 19th Century Russian Literature
The methodological basis in this article is the phenomenon of empathy. This concept is proving to be a useful tool for literary studies, as well as becoming an increasingly important aspect in historical sciences. On the basis of an analysis of literary texts, which are historical images of human thought and sensibility, a picture of empathetic attitudes towards the peasant stratum in 19th century Russia is outlined. The literary writers show in their texts the gradual evolution of sensitivity towards the peasants – from indicating the possibility to empathize with them, to showing exemplary attitudes of representatives of the aristocracy, to full identification with representatives of the peasant layer. The literary analysis makes it possible to see the correlation between growing social empathy and democratic changes in the state.
Copyright (c) 2025 Artur Sadecki http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Lifetime Care in Peasant Families in the Final Period before Enfranchisement in the Kingdom of Poland, Based on Notarial Deeds
The article presents an analysis of lifetime care contracts in peasant families in the Kingdom of Poland during the final period before enfranchisement (1857–1862), when the land lords still had power over the peasant population. It presents various survival strategies of seniors in rural communities, indicating the place of lifetime care among them. It discusses the legal regulations according to which such provisions were made. The analysis included lifetime care contracts concluded in three poviats of the Kingdom of Poland located in the west (Konin poviat), in the centre (Grójec poviat) and in the south of the country (Stopnica poviat), which allowed for presenting the regional differences within the analyzed institution. The criterion for selecting individual poviats was the advancement of rental reforms occurring in their territory. A preliminary comparison was also made of the situation in this respect in the same poviats at the turn of the first and second decade of the 19th century. The article is based on notarial deeds prepared by offices operating in the abovementioned administrative units. The concluded agreements were subjected to a detailed analysis, with an emphasis on the standard of living that elders could achieve thanks to them. Additionally, the methods of dividing property and the wealth owned by peasant families were examined, because the signing of lifetime care agreements accompanied donations of real estate along with its value estimation. The analysis concerns primarily peasant families with rental farms, because they were the ones who made such records in notary offices.
Copyright (c) 2025 Tomasz Opaliński http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Serfs’ Obligations in the Eastern Part of Southern Podlasie in the 19th Century
The manorial-serfdom system was predominant in Southern Podlasie until the early 1860s. Very few villages were based on the monetary rent system. Most of the local landowners showed little interest in investing in new technologies, and they associated improvement in their prosperity with the exploitation of the mandatory labor of peasants. Therefore, the latter were burdened with numerous obligations. The primary one was a fixed weekly corvée, which varied significantly in its extent and was not always correlated with the area of land used by the peasants. Additionally, during periods of intensified agricultural work, especially the harvest, peasants were required to work extra days of corvée. Working them off caused the peasants to have little time to tend to their own crops in the appropriate period. The working day was usually regulated by the sunrise and sunset, although at some estates, peasants were allowed to start work between 5 and 7 in the morning. Corvée work was not valued very high. Peasants rarely showed open opposition to performing these duties since the court cases they filed often ended with their defeat. In this situation, they avoided diligently fulfilling their imposed obligations, which landowners tried to force them to perform through legal regulations, rewards, and punishments. The landowners were interested in maintaining the existing system, and leasing land to peasants for rent was regarded as harmful to their (i.e. landlords’) interests.
Copyright (c) 2025 Dariusz Tarasiuk http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Peasantry's Stance on Education in the Russian-Polish Kingdom during the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
Acquiring elementary education by peasants in the Kingdom of Poland in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries was determined by many factors. The most important of these was the policy of the Russian state towards education which treated the school as a tool for inculcating loyalty to the state. On the other hand, the school was not always perceived by the peasants themselves as a necessary institution. This was caused, among other things, by a lack of understanding for educational needs, poverty, or the Russification character of the education system. Representatives of the rural population acquired reading and writing skills not only in schools, but very often through extracurricular education, including secret teaching activities. Gradually, among the rural population, the awareness of the benefits of education began to grow. This was influenced by the conduct of secret schooling, as well as the activities of Polish organizations and social activists who set themselves the goal of raising the level of education in the countryside.
Copyright (c) 2025 Dariusz Szewczuk http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Through the Eyes of a Parish Priest: the Image of Peasant Communities in the Lublin and Podlasie Regions in the Memoirs of Fr. Karol Dębiński from 1867–1915
Fr. Karol Dębiński, a clergyman of the Lublin and later Podlasie dioceses, was a distinguished member of the local clergy at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He was noted for his high intellectual and spiritual qualities, and served as a close collaborator of the bishop, a member of the chapter, and the administrator of the Lublin Cathedral. He demonstrated a deep understanding of both domestic and international church and social realities. Fr. Dębiński authored extensive memoirs, in which he presented, among other matters, the social landscape of four rural parishes where he served as a parish priest: Serniki, Włostowice, Janów Podlaski, and Biskupice. This unique type of source, valuable for its reliance on personal observation and evaluation, offers insights into significant aspects of rural life from the author’s perspective. Contrary to expectations, it lacks substantial descriptions of religious practices and folk traditions. Instead, it assesses levels of education and morality within individual parishes, as well as the living and farming conditions of the rural population. The author also discusses the varied nature of relationships between parishioners and the parish priest.
Copyright (c) 2025 Jarosław Roman Marczewski http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Excerpts from the History of Peasant Communities in the Polish Lands under Partitions in the Light of the American Press at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries
The American press at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries wrote extensively about the situation of Polish peasants under partitions. In the pages of press articles, journalists described the legal and economic situation of peasants in the territories of the three partitions, focusing on the nature of peasant serfdom and the attitude of Polish landowners towards the peasantry. Considerable attention was also given to events that led to a general change in the status of the peasant population. Successive American press titles presented and evaluated the process of enfranchisement, conducted on different terms by each of the partitioners. Examples of peasant revolts against the domestic nobility, partitioning powers and the very processes of Russification and Germanisation were also of interest to the press. However, the groundbreaking events at the beginning of the 20th century, such as the Russian Revolution of 1905 and World War I, were given the greatest amount of detail. These events were understood as crucial for the change in the legal and economic situation as well as the gradual formation of national consciousness among Polish peasants. The analysis of issues discussed in the press at the turn of the century makes it possible to characterise American society of that period as a community concerned with the fate of the socially oppressed peasant class and even expressing sympathy towards its representatives.
Copyright (c) 2025 Mateusz Jeleń, Martyna Agnieszka Woźny http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Folwark and the Fate. A Sketch on Adolf Dygasinski's Rural Works
This article is an attempt to interpret selected texts by Adolf Dygasiński, which depict life on a farm in the second half of the 19th century from the perspective of agricultural workers. In Dygasiński's view, the farm appears as a distorted and dehumanised social space, characterised by omnipresent violence. The extremely difficult conditions prevailing there undermine interpersonal bonds, prompting the characters to cast various representatives of their own community as scapegoats. The article examines this social phenomenon as presented by the writer and seeks to clarify both its dynamics and the factors that cause it.
Copyright (c) 2025 Karolina Anna Chyła http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
From the Plow to the Pen: Public Perception of Ukrainian–Language Writers of Peasant Origin from Dnieper Ukraine at the turn of the 20th century
The article examines the public response to the phenomenon of the writing practices of a wide range of both prominent and little–known Ukrainian–language authors of peasant origin from Dnieper Ukraine at the turn of the twentieth century. Regardless of the level of education and professional competence, main occupation and place of residence, they tried to realize their intellectual potential and find their niche in the social space of literary production, developing a nuanced self–perception as ‘peasants’, ‘Ukrainian authors’, and ‘writers’. The theoretical self-perception of the study draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of ‘literary field’ and his idea about the ‘semantic blurring’ of the notion of the ‘writer’. Using archival and printed sources (ego–documents, censorship records and periodicals), the author analyzes the specific features of the public perception of Ukrainian writers of peasant background through a threefold lens of power relations as bearers of a vulnerable social identity in the space of gaining access to cultural production; as representatives of the Ukrainian literary field in the realities of imperial claims to cultural dominance; and as literature producers in relations with cultural agents that shaped their recognition and status as writers.
Copyright (c) 2025 Viktoriia Voloshenko http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Image of a Village and the Life of its Inhabitants on the Example of Selected Lublin Press in the Mid-1930s.
The interwar period (1918–1939) was a time of intense social, economic, and political transformations in Poland, including rural areas, and the Lublin press played a significant role in shaping the image of the countryside and the lives of its residents. Articles from that period depicted rural Poland as a space full of contradictions: on the one hand, marked by poverty, backwardness, and inequalities, and on the other hand, as a place of dynamic changes, growing awareness, and aspirations for modernization. The heterogeneity of the narrative stemmed primarily from the ideological differences between individual publications. Whereas left-wing and peasant newspapers highlighted socio-economic hardships, conservative and Catholic press emphasized the morality, religiosity, and patriotism of villagers. Regardless of the political line, the countryside remained a significant topic in public discourse, and its development and problems constituted an important element of the public debate. Articles analyzing the economic and social situation of the Lublin region in the 1930s point to numerous challenges faced by farmers. The economic crisis, the weakness of cooperative organizations, income inequalities, and absence of educated elites in rural areas were seen by their authors as key factors hindering the development of the countryside. At the same time, the writers recognized opportunities for improvement through the expansion of cooperatives, education, and more active participation of farmers in politics and rural economic management. They emphasized that only through conscious actions and organization could improvements be made in rural living conditions and an increase in its significance within the national economy be achieved.
Copyright (c) 2025 Marek Woźniak http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Rally as an Important Element of Living in a Rural Community in the Interwar Period Based on Deputy Jan Pieniążek’s Activities
The article is an attempt to show rallies as an important element of living in rural communities in the light of the activities of deputy and people's activist Jan Pieniążek in the interwar period, i.e. 1918–1939. The rally in this period was the most effective form of reaching the rural population with its message, clearly winning over the press (illiteracy, lack of access to printed material, unwillingness to read, after 1926 restrictions due to increasingly repressive censorship). Rallies became one of the main means of exchanging information, presenting one's achievements, or discrediting opponents. Therefore, they were also often a place of ‘political struggle’, sometimes taking on rather violent forms (the so–called “breaking up” of rallies). At the same time, however, they were also genuine spaces for meaningful discussion on various issues, becoming a manifestation of a kind of local democracy (an example is the rally referendum in 1933, in which the inhabitants of the village Mokra Strona decided to join the city of Przeworsk). This article describes in detail issues related to the organisation of the rally and its setting. The role and significance of the rally presidium and the resolutions adopted at the rallies are examined. The topics discussed at these meetings are also presented. Finally, issues of attendance and the emotions evoked by the rally speeches are addressed.
Copyright (c) 2025 Seweryn Pieniążek http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
French Peasant Women on the Home Front: Literary Representation of Wartime Everyday Life in Ernest Pérochon’s Novel Les Gardiennes
World War I had a profound impact on the French countryside. The mass mobilization of men forced women to take full responsibility for running the farms, agricultural work, and family responsibilities. Despite this, their role has long been underestimated in historiography, which has focused mainly on the experiences of soldiers. The aim of this article is to analyse the literary representation of rural women in Ernest Pérochon’s novel Les Gardiennes, published in 1924 and one of the few books devoted to this subject. Drawing on historical works on World War I and on the situation of peasants in the early twentieth century, the article examines how literary fiction contributes to the formation of collective memory. It also shows that Pérochon’s novel, by offering a rare and multi-dimensional account of the everyday lives of French peasant women during the war, contributes to their better recognition in the history of the conflict.
Copyright (c) 2025 Anna Maziarczyk http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Minutes of Village Heads' Conferences as a Source for Research on the Role and Significance of Rural Commune Offices in the German Extermination Policy in the Lublin District (1939–1944) – A Microhistorical Approach
The aim of this article is to present the source value of the minutes of the village heads' conferences as a source for research into the role and significance of the offices of rural communes (gminas) in the German Holocaust (extermination) policy in the Lublin District, as well as for research into Polish-Jewish relations in the General Government (GG). The paper discusses the content of minutes from seven communes in the Kreishauptmannschaft Lublin-Land, which, considering the state of preservation of this record legacy on the scale of the whole GG, constitute the best-preserved compact group of this type of files on the scale of this quasi-state organism. The work presents the issue of the communes' participation in the German extermination policy, both directly and indirectly, as well as analyzing their activities aimed at building and sealing a village security system, which was also targeted, albeit not directly, at Jewish ghetto escapees. The article has a microhistorical character, although it reveals in great detail, from the perspective of the lowest level of the German administration, the mechanisms by which the communes, and thus a certain group of Poles, were implicated in the Holocaust of the Jews. The study provides a springboard for further comparative studies on the minutes, which are an important but underestimated source in research on the Second World War.
Copyright (c) 2025 Alicja Gontarek http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Peasants and the Polish Countryside in German Propaganda within the General Government. Creation versus Reality
The article discusses the role of the Polish countryside and its inhabitants in the Nazi propaganda within the General Government and the propaganda constructions of the social attitudes of the rural inhabitants towards the occupation authorities and the rest of society. The German occupation authorities sought to exploit to the greatest possible extent the rural population as a workforce, which resulted in the manipulation and propaganda influence on this group. In this context, an important role was played by the press addressed to the rural inhabitants, including the wall newspaper “Nowiny” and the weeklies “Siew” and “Rolnik” as well as publications concerning the problems of peasant and agricultural issues published in daily information newspapers. Particular attention is given to the use of propaganda means/methods and its social effects on rural communities. The article analyzes the press materials from newspapers published in the Radom and Lublin Districts between 1939 and 1944.
Copyright (c) 2025 Monika Napora http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Values of the Peasant Elite of the Anti-Communist Underground(in the Light of the Preserved Personal Accounts of Zdzisław Broński “Uskok” and Edmund Edward Taraszkiewicz “Żelazny”)
After 1947, the struggle against the communist authorities in Poland was predominantly conducted by peasant fighters, which is an exceptional occurrence in Polish history. This kind of situation had not previously occurred. In the Lublin Voivodeship, the underground struggle was led by Zdzisław Broński “Uskok” and Edmund Edward Taraszkiewicz “Żelazny”. They fought from the end of the war until their deaths in 1949 and 1951, respectively. Their memoiristic writings, which were seized by the security organs and published by IPN (the Institute of National Remembrance), allow for the reconstruction of their value system which included elements such as: homeland and its freedom, faith in God, honor, and family. These values were strongly connected to the national history and fully aligned with the traditionally understood Polish patriotism. Additionally, instrumental values crucial for achieving the aforementioned priorities included: courage, heroism, care for subordinates and collaborators, uncompromising attitude, and dedication to the organization. Both commanders also revealed political and social values: anti-Sovietism, anti-communism, and acceptance of democracy as a social system. Given the value system they adopted and kept to and their resolute stance, they can be considered part of the elite fighting for Polish independence.
Copyright (c) 2025 Janusz Łosowski http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Topos of Utopianism in Posters Dedicated to the Countryside in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1950s.
The concept of utopia is explored by scholars from various disciplines, including literary theorists, political scientists, cultural analysts, educators, historians, and art historians who often refer to it as the Arcadian myth. In Central and Eastern Europe, posters depicting rural life and published during the 1950s were created exclusively in the style of Socialist Realism. This artistic method was employed to portray an idealized, fictional image of the countryside, whose characteristics bear striking resemblance to those of a utopia. The depicted vision consists of key elements typical of utopian literature, including: the absence of specific temporal and spatial coordinates, the dissolution of state structures, the prevalence of collectivism, professed equality (albeit illusory in practice), the eradication of social classes and conflicts, the paramount importance of labor, the omnipresent factor of happiness, the idealization of human figures and their behavior, as well as an Arcadian landscape. The utopian essence of these 1950s posters was further reinforced by the intrinsic attributes of the posters themselves which were reduced to serving merely as advertising tools, by the strategic deployment of ideology, and by the distinctive features inherent to Socialist Realism.
Copyright (c) 2025 Mariusz Mazur http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Dung on the Red Carpet: The Image of Peasants in Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900 and Ermanno Olmi’s The Tree of Wooden Clogs
This article places Bernardo Bertolucci’s Novecento (1976) and Ermanno Olmi’s L’albero degli zoccoli (1978) in dialogue to analyze the image of peasants that these films offer. It demonstrates that the 1970s were a period of intense liminality for Italy, something which influenced substantially the formation and production of the image of peasants in these films. Firstly, we explore contingent issues of the period, including the exhaustion of the economic miracle, and black and red terrorism, to start unpacking the peasant image constructed in the films. Subsequently, we use the standpoints of machinery, landscape and historical movement to show that the directors wielded this image to confront the encroaching process of modernization of Italian society. Finally, we expose and reflect on certain illusory claims of historical authenticity which are built on a schemata of stereotypes and which confirm that the 1970s were an influential phase for peasant imagery. Many of these issues continue to haunt us today. This research, then, enriches our analytical toolbox for the history and future dynamics of peasant studies, intruding disciplines which span from Italian history to film studies.
Copyright (c) 2025 Andrea Bonfanti http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
People’s History as an Argument and Discursive Turn
The article focuses on an attempt to identify tropes in the meta-scientific analysis of the so-called New People's History, aiming to capture certain patterns in the dynamics of its discourse, including a contextual understanding of the current people's history turn in Poland, along with its specification within a global context. Among other issues, the paper addresses, he problem of defining people's history (and the concept of ‘the people’) and the discursive shift from the postulate of history from below within the model of social history to the multidisciplinary turn in the humanities. The notion of ‘people's history’ is considered as both an argumentative category and a discursive turn, along with its genealogy in historical research. Selected methodological and theoretical aspects of people's history turn, as well as the justification of the Polish genealogical line, are examined in relation to the concept and postulate of the ‘politics of sensitivity’.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ewa Solska http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
People’s History Turn in the Museum Space
The people’s history turn is a movement that seeks to reinterpret Poland’s history from the perspective of the previously marginalized social classes. The aim of the article is to assess the presentation of peasants in museums and to find out whether the people’s history turn is reflected in museum exhibitions. Museum exhibitions are the place where the cultural canon is created and they define how communities want to be perceived. It appears that, in the context of the people’s history turn, peasants are present in museums to a limited extent, represented first of all in open-air museums, and in the martyrological context. In ethnographic and open-air museums, the peasant culture is often presented in a mythical and a historical way, which results in the strengthening of stereotypes. These exhibitions, despite certain positive changes, continue to offer an idealized picture of the country, focusing on folklore and traditions rather than on real social problems. Less often, peasants are presented as heroes of martyrdom with their activities during WW2 being glorified, leading to the emergence of simplifications and stereotypization. Museums as institutions are constantly mediating between the historical truth and the needs of the contemporary public. Changes in the approach to representing history, including people’s history turn, can lead to a more diverse and inclusive narrative, which takes different perspectives into account.
Copyright (c) 2025 Anna Ziębińska-Witek http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0