One must consider many things when looking at national identity for people from other countries. One country can be completely different from the other, yet they still have a sense of pride and national identity. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, national identity is defined as "a sense of a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by (the maintenance of) distinctive traditions, culture, linguistic or political features, etc." For the Polish, many of them connect through their sense of Polish culture, traditions, and language. In Poland: Exploring the relationship between national brand and national culture, written by Krzysztof Kubacki and Heather Skinner, there is an analysis of what the Polish feel are factors of their national identity. The statistics taken from this were from a questionnaire that was given to young Polish people, generally around the ages of 19 and 24. This questionnaire was written in Polish by a native Polish man. Of what was collected, the Polish strongly agree on many contributors that they believe are part of Poland's national identity. The top 10 of the contributors that the 383 Polish people strongly agreed on were as follows: I was born in Poland (296 votes); I have Polish parents (282 votes); I have Polish nationality (280 votes); I live in Poland (277 votes); I speak Polish (269 votes); the national anthem (237 votes); my family name is Polish (224 votes); the Polish flag (209 votes); my first name is Polish (204 votes); keeping traditions (185 votes). So, it's safe to say that the Polish agree upon many things that contribute to their national identity. These are pretty clear identities that someone can spot.
When talking about Poland as a part of Europe, there may be people who also identify as European. Another part of the survey that was shown in Kubacki and Skinner's article was to answer what they feel is their identity as Polish. The majority of people who were a part of the survey responded that they think that they are Polish first, and after that, they are European. This got 304 votes in the survey. Next, there were 42 votes saying that they feel that they are Polish only, not European. After that, there were 29 votes saying that they were European first and Polish second. Finally, with the lowest votes, only 5 said that they were only European. This can be seen as a reflection of the first survey. Many of these people might have taken into account whether they were born in Poland, if they have Polish parents, if their nationality is Polish, if they actually live in Poland, is they can speak Polish (the survey was written in Polish, so one hopes that they were able to read and speak Polish), if they take part in the national anthem, if any part of their name is Polish, and if they keep Polish traditions. But of course, this specific question was about how they feel about their own identity as Polish and European citizens, not what they classify as contributors to national identity. And much of this could be influenced by where they live in Poland. Are they living in a big city with lots of tourism? Or are they living in a quieter part of Poland that might hold up more traditions? There are many factors that someone could consider when they think of national identity. It can become more complex, and minor contributions could be significant to what one thinks is part of a particular national identity.
On the other hand, suppose you aren't a part of these many factors that the Polish consider as part of their national identity. In that case, the Polish will most likely see you as an outsider, or an 'other.' Anna Triandafyllidou, author of National Identity and the 'other' wrote that 'other,' in comparison to national identity are "foreigners, those belonging to other communities" (Triandafyllidou, 1998, p. 593.). In other words, someone might be seen as an 'other' in Poland if they don't speak Polish, live in Poland, have Polish parents, or if they don't have a Polish name. But, most of the time, people will first go off of appearances. Although many Polish people highly consider factors such as name, where you live, or if you keep traditions, one will have to get to know you if they want to see if you are Polish or not. And suppose someone doesn't act inherently Polish. In that case, they might be thought of as not a part of the Polish national identity, and you might become seen as a minority.
One other significant identity in Poland is the Catholic religion, specifically the Roman Catholic religion. Many Polish view it as a national identity; it had 133 votes in Kubacki and Skinner's survey. Catholicism is the dominant religion throughout the country, with 85% of the population identifying with that religion. This religion can be found all over, including music, where it is specifically prominent in Poland's debut year at Eurovision. In the last section of my post, I will be showing examples of how Poland incorporated these factors of national identity in their first-ever performance (1994) with Edyta Górniak's "To nie ja!" Which was also their highest placing song to date.
Poland's first appearance in the Eurovision song contest was "To nie ja!" by Edyta Górniak. This song was originally written and sung in Polish and is considered a ballad. The fact that the song is in Polish shows that the Polish think of their language as a big part of the national identity. And throughout the song, Górniak describes herself as having an easy world. This song also uses terms from the Catholic religion with references to Eve and Hell, which are a big part of the Polish national identity. Górniak compares herself to Eve's biblical character and says that she is not like her and is crying out to the audience and asking them not to compare her to Eve. Mainly, she is asking the audience not to blame her for the sins she has acted on. And at the end of her song, Górniak makes a reference to Hell. She asks that before she enters Hell and becomes ashes, she wants to be able to look down on Earth. Much of Górniak's song leans into factors that create the Polish national identity. Not only does the song fall into categories of national identity in Poland, but so does Górniak. Edyta Górniak "was born in Ziębice, Poland on November 14th, 1972. She began her career at the age of 18, before being chosen to represent Poland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994" (Outerson, 2020). You can see why she was chosen to be Poland's first representative in Eurovision; Górniak is an excellent example of the Polish identity.
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References
Eurovision 1994 Poland: Edyta Górniak - "to nie ja!". Eurovisionworld. (n.d.). Retrieved
January 28, 2022, from https://eurovisionworld.com/eurovision/1994/poland
Kubacki, K., & Skinner, H. (2006, April 1). Poland: Exploring the relationship between national
brand and national culture. Authenticate for database access. Retrieved January 28,
2022, from
https://web-s-ebscohost-com.proxy.seattleu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=13e53334-7e4a-4be3-9f2b-d7970b55fd17%40redis
nationalism, n. Home : Oxford English Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2022, from
https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/125289
Outerson, M. (2020, December 30). Eurovision 1994: Poland's Edyta Górniak in Focus.
EuroVisionary. Retrieved January 28, 2022, from
https://eurovisionary.com/eurovision-1994-polands-edyta-gorniak-in-focus/
To nie ja. Eurovision Song Contest Wiki. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2022, from
https://eurosong-contest.fandom.com/wiki/To_nie_ja
Triandafyllidou, A. (1998, July 1). National identity and the 'other'. Authenticate for database
access. Retrieved January 28, 2022, from
https://web-s-ebscohost-com.proxy.seattleu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=44f05e69-5386-4215-bda9-a9d3d44f034a%40redis