Wilamowianie i ich stroje. Dokumentacja językowego i kulturowego dziedzictwa Wilamowic

Vilamovians and their clothing

Aside from their language, Wymysiöeryś, clothing is the main feature of cultural distinctiveness for the inhabitants of Wilamowice, a small town in southern Poland. It was founded in the Middle Ages by Germanic settlers, whose descendants practiced weaving but also traveled as merchants to remote parts of Europe. From their journeys were brought fabrics, patterns and sartorial ideas that enriched local attire, which in consequence became not only an important element constituting Vilamovian identity, but also a subject of interest for Polish and German researchers and political activists. In the years following the World War 2 Vilamovian clothing was eradicated and its users were repressed. During communist rule in Poland there was an attempt to reduce it to a stage costume, and these efforts were partially successful. Today, local activists and researchers endeavor to restore knowledge of Vilamovian apparel, protect their old garments from destruction, but also to create the new ones from contemporary accessible materials.

The authors describe these processes and present the crucial actors involved as well as the social responses to their actions. As the title suggests, “Vilamovians and their clothing” is a book about the relation between people and clothing, between human beings and things. The analysis of this relation, encompassing both the material and the anthropological sphere, is accompanied by a wealth of illustrations. Among the authors of the publication, researchers representing different methodological perspectives, a special place is held by researchers from Wilamowice. As users themselves of the traditional clothing, they have created a new way of describing this element of culture.