Belorussians and the Belorussian language in Poland

Abstract

This paper presents the social and linguistic Situation of the Belorussian national minority in Poland. Special emphasis is placed on the following questions: L the social Status ofthe Polish Belorussians before World War II (the group was then nearly totally analphabetic and rural), and after 1945 (general education, possibilities for social advancement, work outside the agricultural sphere in various professions, activities in Belorussian sociocultural organizations and scientific institutions); 2. religious affiliation, which influences decisions of national affiliation (ethnic Belorussians of the Roman Catholic denomination consider themselves Poles and assimilate at a faster tempo); 3. the national identity ofthe Belorussians ofthe Orthodox denomination in the light of sociological research carried out in the 1970s; 4. the linguistic Situation ofthe Belorussian minority (the relation to the Belorussian literary language, to the horne dialect, and to Polish in various social groups in town and in the countryside).