The Wendish Research Exchange - Dołowy-Rybińska, Nicole: The Upper Sorbian Intelligentsia in Relation to the Slavs

Lětopis Abstract 2018 2: Dołowy-Rybińska, Nicole: The Upper Sorbian Intelligentsia in Relation to the Slavs.

This article reports on part of a research project conducted within the context of a Sorbian Institute scholarship concerning relations, contacts and influences between Upper Sorbs and other Slavs. The first part of this article presents the results of the survey based on a questionnaire, conducted within four age groups of Upper Sorbs. The questions relate to declared passive and active knowledge of Slavonic languages, especially Czech, Polish and Russian; the opinion of Upper Sorbs concerning the usefulness of Slavonic languages in different spheres of life; the frequency of trips to and stays in Slav countries; the nature of relations with people belonging to other Slav nations. Another group of questions concerns the existence of a "Slav community" and the role Slavs could play in safeguarding the Sorbian language and culture. The statistical results are presented and discussed. The second part of the article is based on interviews with representatives of the principal Upper Sorbian institutions. Four problems concerning the present institutional relations between Upper Sorbian and Slav institutions/organizations are pointed out: 1) the nature of these relations; 2) the question of the attractiveness of Slav states for Upper Sorbs; 3) their functioning in the capitalist system; 4) the problems for Sorbs related to declaring a preference for Slavs over other nations.