Lecture by Dr. Ewa Woydyłło-Osiatyńska organized by the Prof. Bronisław Geremek Center as part of the series "Poland, or the province?" November 3, 2010 [1h36min] https://wszechnica.org.pl/wyklad/prow... "Psychological provincialism of Poles" - lecture by Dr. Ewa Woydyłło-Osiatyńska organized by the Prof. Bronisław Geremek Center as part of the series "Poland, or the province?", November 3, 2010 (1h36min) - A morbid inferiority complex is probably subjectively the most troublesome mark of the province - said Ewa Woydyłło during the third lecture of the series "Poland, or the province?" The lecture by Dr. Ewa Woydyłło, which took place on November 3, 2010 at the Foundation's headquarters, approached the subject from the point of view of a clinical psychologist. The subject of provincialism in Poland was followed at previous seminars by Prof. Jerzy Jedlicki (historical perspective) and prof. Marek Ziółkowski (sociological perspective) Based on her many years of experience working with individuals and group therapy sessions, Ewa Woydyłło presented an original parallel. Being in the provinces is not connected with geographical location but with the state of mind and spirit of the individual. A provincial in the psychological sense is inseparably accompanied by the feeling that decisions concerning his life are made outside his area of ​​influence, are made in a distant center. These are people without faith in their own abilities, suffering from an inferiority complex that prevents a fulfilled, happy life. According to Dr. Ewa Woydyłło, it is primarily the family that shapes the sense of values, but certain patterns of upbringing and community fates influence what we colloquially call national character. - When talking about identity, we must refer to historical conditions that still linger in our mentality. The most severe traumas of Poles are the partitions, the long-lasting feudal serfdom and then communism. Let us add to this the dominant philosophical paradigm in our culture of consent to fate (especially suffering) and making God responsible for this "fate" as the only driving force (in the mild version: "God wanted it that way" or in the restrictive version: "punishment for sins"). These four factors shaped human experiences, feelings, emotions, life paths successively or simultaneously, acting as barriers limiting freedom of choice, freedom of decision, freedom to be who one could or would like to be. This is how we Poles lived for several hundred years. So many still live today. And one cannot even be too surprised by this. (...) I believe that it is necessary not to deny the traumas weighing on our history, but to individually, personally perceive one's own wings, not only roots. Those who want to enter the center. In any case, those who try and see that it depends on them, not on God or the enslaving power of the past. (…) So I conclude that if the question itself: “Poland, or the province?” implies that being a province is worse, and being in the center is better, then we can find a way to do it. Namely, we can start taking better care to raise our children more effectively to belong to the center, instead of to remain in the “eternal province” (as Professor Jedlicki put it). (…) I will try to show that it is possible. I am not saying that it is easy, but I am saying that it is doable. I believe that we will definitely succeed, I just do not know yet how quickly. I see the chances of accomplishing the above task; in any case, I myself often participate in the process of freeing people from the traits that are harmful to them personally (or their loved ones) typical of provincialism, particularism and parochialism. (…) Therapy, if it is to be effective, always first restores dignity to the person. (…) In short, from people who consider themselves unworthy, let us become those who, precisely in the name of dignity, are able to be equal to others and next to them in the center, and not on the neglected and eternally dependent peripheries. Find us: / Wszechnicafww / Wszechnicafww1 https://anchor.fm/wszechnicaorgpl---h... https://anchor.fm/wszechnica-fww-nauka https://wszechnica.org.pl/ #psychology #provincialism #identity