O Polakach i Słoweńcach – w kręgu językowo-kulturowych stereotypów

The monograph is focused on the ethnolinguistic description of the perception of a Pole (Poles) and Slovene (Slovenes) which can be reconstructed on the basis of the data collected from the statements of the respondents from both Poland and Slovenia. The research aims at capturing the “common”, “everyday” understanding of the per­ceptions of the representatives of both nations. The authors observe the two national and eth­nic communities which the research is interested in – Polish and Slovenian – through the prism of their languages. This is because language is the most important tool for transmitting culture, which influences the shaping of the perceived image of the world within a given culture; language serves not only for naming, but also for appro­priate classification and interpretation of extra-linguistic reality. One of the functions of any natural language is to convey stereotypes common to a given group and its cul­ture. The way the authors' research tackles the focal issue places it within the scope of broadly understood ethnolinguistic studies related to the linguistic image of the world. This approach tries to reconstruct the stereotypical linguo-cultural image of a Pole (Poles) and Slovene (Slovenes), including appropriately valued obligatory and relevant fea­tures, as well as contextually dependent elements.