Dissertations, studies, sketches
ON THE CALPACK OF THE MOUNTAINS - OR LEMKO IDENTITY
The paper refers to the bilingual, Polish-Lemko, collection of poems by Władysław Graban,
Na kołpaku gór On the Calpack on the Mountains, published in 1991. The mountains, the Beskids, the Lemkos’ homeland, are presented as the exotic calpack, a type of cap made of several pieces of fabric sewn together. The analysis is based on the assumption that the Lemkos’ identity has been shaped like a calpack, sewn together from various cultural, religious and linguistic elements as a result of cultural transgressions — complex in their course and stretched over time. In the successive parts of the article the author discusses the various components of the ethnic identity of this minority, little known to the public at large.