Nationalism as a Manipulation of Collective Imaginaries (Stereotypes) of One’s Own and Strangers in Jan Stanisław Bystroń’s “National Megalomania”

Marta Baranowska

Abstract


The research purpose of the article is to analyse Jan Stanisław Bystroń’s research on collective imaginaries of one’s own people and strangers, on the basis of which he formulated an original perspective on the perception of nationalism. The research question is as follows: What is nationalism in the views of Bystroń? He was one of the first scholars to point out that nationalism boils down to the manipulation of collective imaginaries that are the source of prejudice. His National Megalomania (1924) can be considered a forerunner of research on stereotypes. The research purpose of the article is also to point out that his comments on national megalomania preceded the theories on collective narcissism formulated in the 1970s by Erich Fromm and Theodor W. Adorno. They are to this day analysed in scholarly literature, also in the context of research on nationalism. These analyses indicate that the source of narcissism is ressentiment. This concept of Friedrich Nietzsche is also used in theories about nationalism, so it was also included in the analysis of nationalism in this article. Bystroń’s research was interdisciplinary in nature, which allowed him to point out a new and, in many points, pioneering perspective on the perception of nationalism. Research on his work also requires an interdisciplinary approach. For this reason, the study uses references to theories from a wide spectrum of social and humanistic research. As a result, it was possible to interpret Bystroń’s contribution to the study of nationalisms from a broader perspective.


Keywords


national megalomania; stereotypes; collective narcissism; ressentiment; nationalism; Bystroń

References


Adorno T.W., Opinion Delusion Society, “Yale Journal of Criticism” 1977, vol. 10(2), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/yale.1997.0013.

Baranowska M., Jednostka, państwo i prawo w filozofii Fryderyka Nietzschego. Mała vs wielka polityka, Toruń 2009.

Baranowska M., Nadczłowiek, czyli negacja religijności, “Studia Iuridica Toruniensia” 2014, vol. 14, DOI: https://doi.org/10.12775/SIT.2014.001.

Baranowska M., On Being a German, according to Friedrich Nietzsche, “Przegląd Zachodni” 2017, vol. 73(2).

Bystroń J.S., Megalomania narodowa, Warszawa 1995.

Chodak J., Jan Stanisław Bystroń jako prekursor socjologii historycznej, “Annales UMCS. Sectio I” 1999, vol. 24.

Cichocka A., Cislak A., Nationalism as Collective Narcissism, “Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences” 2020, vol. 34, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.12.013.

Citlak A., Psychologiczne i językowe uprzedmiotowienie obcych (stereotypizacja i dehumanizacja wrogów), “Studia nad Autorytaryzmem i Totalitaryzmem” 2018, vol. 40(4), DOI: https://doi.org/10.19195/2300-7249.40.4.1.

Crocker J., Luhtanen R., Collective Self-Esteem and Ingroup Bias, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” 1990, vol. 58(1), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.58.1.60.

Durkheim É., Les formes elementaires de la vie religieuse. Le systeme totemique en Australie, Paris 1968.

Fromm E., The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, London 1973.

Golec de Zavala A., Dyduch-Hazar K., Lantos D., Collective Narcissism: Political Consequences of Investing Self-Worth in the Ingroup’s Image, “Advances in Political Psychology” 2019, vol. 40(S1), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12569.

Haslam N., Bain P., Douge L., Lee M., Bastian B., More Human Than You: Attributing Humanness to Self and Others, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” 2005, vol. 89(6), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.937.

Jurkowski M., Przedmowa, [in:] J.S. Bystroń, Megalomania narodowa, Warszawa 1995.

Kleinpaul R., Menschen und Völkernamen: Etymologische Streifzüge auf dem Gebiete der Eigennamen, Leipzig 1885.

Lash C., The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in Age of Diminishing Expectations, New York 1991.

Leyens J.-P., Cortes B., Demoulin S., Dovidio J.F., Fiske S.T., Gaunt R., Paladino M.-P., Rodriguez-Perez A., Rodriguez-Torres R., Vaes J., Emotional Prejudice, Essentialism and Nationalism, “European Journal of Social Psychology” 2003, vol. 33(6), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.170.

Lévy-Bruhl L., La mentalité primitive, Paris 1960.

Lippmann W., Public Opinion, New York 1965.

Newman L.S., Was Walter Lippmann Interested in Stereotyping? Public Opinion and Cognitive Social Psychology, “History of Psychology” 2009, vol. 12(1), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015230.

Nietzsche F., The Genealogy of Morals, New York 1921.

Olchanowski T., Sieradzan J., Wprowadzenie do problematyki narcyzmu: od klasycznych koncepcji narcyzmu do narcyzmu kultury zachodniej, [in:] Narcyzm. Jednostka – społeczeństwo – kultura, ed. J. Sieradzan, Białystok 2011.

Reich W., Massenpsychologie des Faschismus. Zur Sexualökonomie der politischen Reaktion und zur proletarischen Sexualpolitik, Kopenhagen–Prag–Zürich 1933.

Reynolds D.K., Narcissistic Personality, [in:] Encyclopedia of Psychology, ed. R.J. Corsini, vol. 2, New York 1994.

Rousseau J.-J., The Collected Writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, vol. 1: Rousseau, Judge of Jean-Jacques: Dialogues, Hanover 1990.

Sloterdijk P., Kritik der zynischen Vernunft, Frankfurt am Main 1983.

Stomma L., Antropologia kultury wsi polskiej XIX w., Warszawa 1986.

Wasilewski Z., Rozbrojenie duchowe narodu, “Przegląd Wszechpolski” 1924, vol. 11.

Wilson J., British Israelism, “The Sociological Review” 1968, vol. 16(1), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.1968.tb01291.x.

Žižek S., “Pathological Narcissus” as Socially Mandatory Form of Subjectivity, [in:] Manifesta 3: Borderline Syndrome: Energies of Defence, Ljubljana 2000.

Žižek S., Violence: Six Sideways Reflections, New York 2008.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/sil.2024.33.1.29-44
Date of publication: 2024-03-28 13:57:49
Date of submission: 2022-07-14 15:00:50


Statistics


Total abstract view - 537
Downloads (from 2020-06-17) - PDF - 0 PDF (Język Polski) - 0

Indicators



Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2024 Marta Baranowska

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.