Маркеры этнічнай ідэнтычнасці жыхароў Віленшчыны (па матэрыялах палявых этнаграфічных экспедыцый пачатку ХХІ ст.)

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of ways to articulate one's and another's ethnic identity of the inhabitants of Vilnius region on the basis of linguistic, territorial and religious markers of distinctiveness. The research is based on the ethnographic fieldwork materials collected in 2007-2011. Language is the most significant marker of ethnic identity in the Belarusian-Lithuanian borderland, where it is difficult to find other contrasting cultural differences between Lithuanians, Poles and Belarusians. For example, in Vilnius region Lithuanians are most often identified by local Slavic-speaking residents on the basis of this feature. However, in the case of people who speak a regional variant of the Belarusian language in Vilnius region, we are dealing with an ethnic anomaly or liminal category – often referred to as locals (“people from here”). Residents who consider themselves Poles call their language simple (prostaya mova). For them, it is no longer a direct marker of ethnicity. In this case, other determinants become markers of identity. First of all, it is the territory of origin and religion that situationally signal the ethnic boundaries between Lithuanians, Poles and Belarusians of Vilnius region.