This paper presents the method of mental mapping, adapted for the purposes of anthropological research on perception and assessment of urbanised spaces. Its application is also discussed in the evaluation of cultural landscape, taking into account the aspect of human experience. The method allows for examination of the inhabited environment’s perceptions and their externalisation in the form of mental maps constructed on the basis of residents’ relations of examined locations. The analysis of mental maps allows both for identification and description of elements
that create the structure of the space and the evaluation of their role in the life of the community and in the formation of a harmonious landscape. The source basis of the article, apart from works referred to in the bibliography, are ethnographic field studies conducted between 2014 and 2017 in ten villages in the Kielce Voivodeship and in Kielce.

The ethnographic atlases hitherto published in Europe have been created to meet the needs of particular countries and nations rather than with any prospect of comparative studies in mind. Thereby, it is difficult to find maps which are comparable when it comes to systematics and chronology. Therefore, we believe it necessary to interpret anew source materials deposited in Cieszyn workshop of the Polish Ethnographic Archives – to deepen the systematics of mapped phenomena along with their chronology and earmark for future development and studies topics
that appear in other European atlases. The resultant maps are to compose an innovative edition, tentatively entitled The Atlas of Cultural Heritage of the Polish Village. The present article familiarizes readers with the concept of the planned endeavour, including aims, preliminary assumptions of the project, and the methodology of research.

As far as Silesia is concerned the language and cuisine constitute fundamental and distinguishing factors of the Silesian ethnic group, they are the determinants of cultural identity and the symbol of cultural identification. The concept of perceiving the culinary art from two perspectives, cultural and linguistic one, was born taking the above into account. Culinary art, as a component of culture understood in a broad manner, serves as a significant element of the language system as well. It plays a crucial culture-forming role in human life and it has certain position in the semantic structure of language which is adequate to its rank. The lexicon of Silesian cuisine, which is being currently prepared, aims at collecting names of dishes in one publication, not only those which are still in use today and dishes recorded in the general consciousness of Silesians, but it also aims at archiving culinary vocabulary which is basically forgotten by presenting it in close connection with the culture of the aforementioned region

In the fashion world of today there appears an increasing number of projects whose overall theme are traditional folk costumes. On the one hand, designers embark upon representing folk costumes faithfully, yet on the other, only some reverberations are present in the “folk fashion” current, whose framework encompasses aleatoric associations of native patterns that compose a peculiar type of axiological mosaic. The foregoing constitutes a stimulus for cultural-imbued creativity, while concurrently being an alternative for mass production. In many cases, attempts to resuscitate tradition translate into space for re-interpreting it, the ramification of which is, in turn, a challenging research area for contemporary ethnology and cultural anthropology.

Cultural heritage is considered to be a valuable and representative part of the culture derived from the past. Cultural potential is a set of cultural phenomena, elements and complexes used or usable for profit. It consists of five components: heritage; organizations and institutions; events and products; infrastructure; human resources. Cultural mapping is being used for its identification, where the elements of cultural potential are cultural resources. The mapping of cultural potential with an emphasis on cultural heritage is a prerequisite for the success of revitalization of the nearly extinct ethnic group of German woodcutters from the Small-Carpathian region – Huncokars.

The article quotes, as a context for the problematics defined in the title, demographic data indicating systematic decrease of Polish population in Zaolzie. The publication referred to, Wizja 2035. Strategia rozwoju polskości na Zaolziu [Vision 2035: Strategies for the Development of Polishness in Zaolzie] (2015), suggests that national and regional awareness are two fundamental values of collective identity which consolidate the community in question. According to the mentioned study, amongst the major positive factors that have to be accounted for while considering the future of the Polish national identity, Scena Polska Tĕšínského divadla w Czeskim Cieszynie is prominent. The repertoire choices presented in the article were made as early as in 1951 by the said professional theatre company run by Polish autochthons in Těšín Silesia, and those choice ought to be perceived as both the carriers of Polishness and an important indicator of regional identity. They prove unambiguously that the only Polish-language professional theatre operating outside Poland may be considered a benchmark of rejuvenating and embedding the national and regional awareness of the Polish minority in Zaolzie.

The issues touched upon in the article concern the impact of the “supernatural” element in re-defining the Ukrainians’ identity during and after the Revolution of Dignity, including the merger of the events’ casualties with the image of an angel hero fighting under the leadership of Archangel Michael against the Yanukovych regime. It instigated the process of the mythologizing victims, whose souls – according to collective imagination – composed the Nebesna Sotnya waging war against evil from the heavens above, while at the same time protecting the living. The community commenced the said re-definition of identity, among others, by referring the initiation hero’s journey, who first fought at Maidan, then proceeded to the battlefield of war, while still remaining under the “supernatural” protection. Moreover, mystical signs only reinforced the rightfulness of taking up the challenge and the righteousness of the very idea.

The main goal of this paper is to explain how the group of so-called Namibian Czechs identifies itself and how it expresses the feeling of belonging to a specific identity in its narrative. The paper is based on the analysis of biographical narrative, which was obtained by the method of oral history, and it also contains information from archival sources and participant observation. The respondents are members of a group of fifty-six children war refugees, who were educated and accommodated in Czechoslovakia between 1985 and 1991. It was a part of international
solidarity aid, provided to liberation movements with communist orientation. The analysis of the biographical narrative of the respondents provides us with information about the specific individual reflection on processes of self-identification and a multiplicity of certain identities.

One of the genetic disorders is LCHAD deficiency. It occurs relatively often in Kashubian population, which is among others attributed to endogamy. Before the second half of the 20th century the Kashubs majorly married within a single parish or a town, village. Also in this day and age, in Kashubia people most of all wed someone living in the neighbouring area. It stems from powerful family and group (ethnic) ties, the traditional family model, low level of education. The Kashubs’ close adherence to family values is best expressed in robust wedding ceremonies along with commonly celebrated Polterabend. This social gathering exhibiting some analogies with potlatch, serves as a kind of status marker for a particular family’s popularity; it confers prestige and indicates position within local community. Despite some anxiety brought about by the promulgation of knowledge about “Kashubian gene,” there is no visible tendency in Kashubian community to change the model of spouse selection.

Using biographical method, the author carries out research on the phenomenon of cultural education in a culturally diverse environment located in the Polish-Lithuanian borderland. In the present article the subject of observation and analyses have become the activities performed/conducted by socio-cultural animators affiliated with Ośrodek “Pogranicze – sztuk, kultur, narodów” in Sejny, who operate among adults. The author investigated a project that has been implemented for several years, which researches the myth of Medea as instrumental in tackling the issue of difficult memory, the latter to be utilised in building good neighbourly relations in multicultural environment.