Metoda etnogeograficzna w badaniach atlasowych ośrodka wrocławskiego i cieszyńskiego – kontynuacja i zmiana

Abstract

The ethnogeographic method consists in applying the data concerning spatial differentiation of cultural artifacts and drawing the conclusions from the location, intensity, typology and mutual relations of these phenomena. This allows for elaborated research into their past as regards the chronology and dynamics of change. In the post-war period the ethnogeographic method became particularly useful for the studies of the Polish Ethnographic Atlas, which were originally conducted in the Wrocław section of the PEA (since 1953 supervised by Józef Gajek and since 1972 – by Janusz Bohdanowicz). After moving the atlas section to Cieszyn in 1998, the assumptions of the ethnogeographic method have been constantly modified under Zygmunt Kłodnicki’s supervision. Methodological changes involve map construction, modification of techniques and the shape of publications within the series ‘Commentaries to the Polish Ethnographic Atlas”. This enables an appropriate presentation of various forms of traditional culture and, at the same time, more precise formulation of conclusions concerning the genesis, permanence and disappearance of the investigated phenomena.