Pomiędzy "ewangelią”, "mgłą słowną” i "mlekiem matki” : trzej ustrońscy ludzie książki wobec języka

Abstract

The article depicts the relation to word of three “men of book” from Ustroń in Cieszyn Silesia – Jan Szczepański, Józef Pilch and Jan Wantuła, a famous sociologist and two bibliophiles, self-taught historians – related with one another with family ties and bonds of friendship. The authoress tries to investigate to what extent their cultural basis (Protestant religion, peasant origins, historical specific of the region) had an impact on that relation, and to what it was an implication of differences in their formal education. From such a perspective, as well as in context of Gadamer’s hermeneutics, some issues are analyzed. First, the matter of political and aesthetical abuse of language (“verbal fog”) and lack of responsibility for word, regarding all three authors connected that responsibility with Protestant ethos and peasant concreteness. It is connected with Szczepański’s conviction that words should be disposed economically for discussions consume “energy”, and with the problem of ideological use of language as well as the influence of another person’s words, what the authoress shows on example of Pilch’s and Szczepański’s diaries. Then, alienation from language brings to mind the matter of “evangel”, that is the language only for selected (educated) people. This permits to approach the subject of “mother’s milk” – the local dialect, a primary language which facilitates understanding despite differences in education, and enable to join in a dialogue with the closest tradition.