ON FOLK THEODICY (O teodycei ludowej)

• Authors: Jankowski Jakub
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The article focuses on the issue of explanations of everyday misfortunes by members of a local community. Its goal is to show that a final result of such explanations is creation of complex philosophical system strongly dependent on the idea of God. The author describes process, in which his interlocutors 'justify' their misfortunes and sufferings. In that way they construct a local theodicy - a wide system of meanings and explanations that makes all unexpected situations valid in a broader religious context. Results of author's research show that, above all, using paradigm of local theodicy helps his interlocutors defend God from accusations of being unjust. Such attitude serves them to build a kind of epistemological structure in which great and good God can exist simultaneously with violence, suffering and pain which are, in consequence, seen as a part of different order. What is wrong and bad thus, must have some kind of sense even if one cannot understand it himself. Without constructing this local form of theodicy, the interlocutors could not share Christian values and be a part of a community based on these values. Conducted research has shown that some aspects of author's interlocutors' lives, would be very difficult to explain without a concept of local theodicy and if this idea did not exist, their faith would be seriously challenged.

Keywords

EN

KURPIE; LOCAL THEODICY; MISFORTUNE; RELIGIOSITY

Discipline

• ANTHROPOLOGY: ANTHROPOLOGY

• Publisher: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Etnografia Polska
• Year: 2009
• Volume: 53
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 175-186
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Jankowski Jakub

• Jakub Jankowski, no data

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

10PLAAAA088510