THE ROLE OF PILGRIMAGE TO SHAPING THE IDENTITY OF KASHUBIANS

Abstract

Next to the language, history (or rather historical memory) or inhabited a territory of the common name, religion is considered as one of the determinants of ethnic identity.

Ethnicity happens to be context-sensitive, because of certain ethnic characteristics such as language, customs, traditions, while religion manifests themselves in particular situations. Eth-nicity – which is particularly evident in modern times – is multidimensional, because of many ways we can distinguish or define social groups. Religion, in turn, can be treated as a cultural system.

This article deals with the role it plays religion (understood as a system of meanings, as a cultural system) in shaping the identity of an ethnic minority – Kashubs. Kashubians, an ethnic minority living in northern Poland, speak a regional – Kashubian. They are predominantly Catholic, and the Catholic religion plays a significant part in their lives (even today). This article presents the meaning of pilgrimage in the creation of Kashubian group identity.