Prezentowany wywiad został przeprowadzony 12 lipca 2021 roku w ramach cyklu „Rozmowy z Mistrzami”, z okazji 50-lecia istnienia cieszyńskiej filii Uniwersytetu Śląskiego. Transkrypcji dokonała Kamilla Księżnik.

In his article, Zygmunt Kłodnicki defines the boundaries of cultural regions and the paths of expansion of chosen products representative of the nautical culture of Austronesia. Kłodnicki examines the conditions for the development of shipping in this area and emphasizes the importance of the geographical environment in this process. Specifically, he draws attention to the importance of rafts in the migration of Austronesians and points out that boats equipped with a stabilizer, known as outrigger canoes, can be considered the differentia specifica of the Austronesian culture from the moment they left Southeast Asia. On the basis of his analysis of the diversity of the structure of the stabilizing device, boat equipment, and sailing terminology, Kłodnicki identifies the paths of cultural expansion in Austronesia. Maps relating to outrigger canoes and the cultural regionalization of the area in question are an integral part of the article.

The article examines the tradition of the chinking of log cabins with moss in chosen villages of the Carpathian Foothills (SE Poland) in the counties of Krosno, Strzyżów, and Sanok. Moss used to be the main material used for chinking. After being gathered in pastures and forests by children and women, it was dried, sprinkled with
water and packed with the help of the metal part of a plough. For the most efficient chinking, the space between logs had to be about 5 cm wide. The main species of moss used for this purpose were Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus (collected on pastures) and Pleurozium schreberi (collected in pine forests). The 1940s and 1950s saw a gradual discontinuation of this practice. In the course of the research, the author chinked two houses in cooperation with a person who was also a key source of information. The article also addresses the legal limitations of reviving the tradition, which include laws concerning the collecting of understorey plants in state forests, fines for using plants from other owners’ forests, and the protection of some moss species.

The study aims to describe the most important changes in public nutrition during socialism in Slovakia. It explains the essence of the state Communist ideology’s involvement in people’s eating habits and the reality of socialist food production and distribution in the 1950s, when the acquirement of even basic foodstuffs was often accompanied by food shortage, bad quality, time losses related to food acquirement and high prices in some cases.

For centuries, traditional means of transport have been tightly connected to traditional peasant culture. The work of a farmer has always represented not only the means of adaptation to the natural environment and the acquisition of essential articles of food and raw materials, but also the realization of one’s cultural identity. Over the centuries, it has acquired its typical features and has become distinct within several regional forms. This has been reflected in the traditional means of transport related to the daily annual cycle of a farmer’s work, as well as various non-agricultural opportunities. The aim of the study is to summarize the knowledge within the field of traditional transport in Slovakia during the first half of the 20th century, exemplified through some typical transport aids. It aims to point out their manifold utilization and their gradual adaptation to the changing natural, historical, and social conditions.

The academic center of ethnological research in Cieszyn has a clearly defined profile, which distinguishes it from other centers of this kind in Poland. Its specificity results primarily from the research interests of the staff, which focus on the issues of cultural and ethnic borderlands and on contemporary socio-cultural transformations, including the role of tradition in the life of postmodern communities. The rich and multifaceted achievements over the past twenty-five years of the center’s operation can be seen as an obligation on the part of the researchers encouraging them to make further consistent efforts to consolidate its position on the map of ethnological studies in Poland, to make their research more effective, and to enhance and broaden international cooperation. A materialization of the idea of creating a permanent ethnological research institution in Silesia, the center plays an important and admittedly unique role in integrating research on cultural phenomena and processes in Central Europe.

Międzynarodowy Zjazd Studentów Etnologii i Antropologii Kulturowej Europy Środkowej Etnologia bez granic / Ethnology without borders to wydarzenie, którego pierwsza edycja odbyła się w 2012 roku dzięki pomysłowości i wsparciu prof. dra hab. Zygmunta Kłodnickiego. W niniejszym artykule autorka przedstawia historię Etnologii bez granic, przebieg pierwszej edycji wydarzenia, a także cele, które zostały zrealizowane.