Smolny Beyond Borders

A Liberal Arts Initiative

Kashubian Language in Modern Poland: How Does Language Policy Affect the Status of a Minority Idiom

Speaker

Date and Time

Monday, 10 March, 6:30 PM CET (Berlin)

Join us on March 10, 2025, at 6:30 PM for a lecture on the current linguistic landscape of northern Poland, home to the Kashubians—a Slavic ethnic minority. In 2005, Kashubian was legally recognized as the country’s only regional language, marking a remarkable transformation from a low-prestige rural dialect to a language of education and culture.
What challenges emerged along the way? How successfully does Kashubian function in the community today? And how has its official recognition influenced Kashubian identity?
Anthropologist and Smolny BB fellow Oleksandr Vasiukov, who has conducted extensive fieldwork in the region for several years, will explore these questions.