Socjologia wojny : życie codzienne żołnierzy w specyficznym środowisku pola walki

Abstract

This doctoral thesis concerns the everyday life of soldiers on the African front in the years 1941-1943, The theoretical part concentrates on presenting the two branches of sociology: sociology of war and sociology of everyday life, indicating their underlying assumptions and their place in the mainstream of sociology. The categories presented in this section, e.g., space, interpersonal relationships, laughter, fear, and fixation, have been, within the research process, applied to the everyday life of soldiers. The methodological part contains a description of the biographical method, content analysis, and case study, with a detailed account for nomenclature later in the research part. The importance of qualitative research is also emphasized, as, without it, this work could not arise. Part of the test consists of four case studies on the following team formations: Deutsches Afrika Korps, Luftwaffe in Africa, British 8. Army and the Desert Air Force. As can be seen, the research included both the land and air armies. All four case studies have been categorized according to the same categories - e.g., hygiene, food, everyday life on the battlefield, free time in the desert, et cetera - in order to enable a comparison of presented categories between specific military units. Besides, using a detailed list of contents, the reader may remind themselves of the importance of the concept of the theoretical part at any time.