Wilamowice; Wymysorys; language revitalization; folklore; multilingualism; oralhistory

Research on Vilamovian folklore has often been limited to only Wymysorys language texts, only Wymysorys- and Polish-language works, or only those created before 1945. Such an approach, however, is a distortion of reality, since the periods studied are only a slice of a larger whole. After all, folklore is something current, which cannot be contained in a finite catalog of texts, themes or motifs. The folklore of Vilamovians has undergone many changes as a result of the turbulent events of the 20th century, such as World War II and the period of post-war persecution, under the influence of the activities of the Regional Ensemble “Wilamowice” during the People’s Republic of Poland, and in the 1990s the activities related to the beatification and canonization of Archbishop Józef Bilczewski, who came from Wilamowice. Today, linguistic revitalization activities have a significant impact. Therefore, this text should be treated rather as a statement on the state of research and a contribution encouraging further research into the folklore of members of this multilingual ethnic group.

Research on Vilamovian folklore has often been limited to only Wymysoryslanguage texts, only Wymysorys- and Polish-language works, or only those created before1945. Such an approach, however, is a distortion of reality, since the periods studied are onlya slice of a larger whole. After all, folklore is something current, which cannot be containedin a finite catalog of texts, themes or motifs. The folklore of Vilamovians has undergone manychanges as a result of the turbulent events of the 20th century, such as World War II and theperiod of post-war persecution, under the influence of the activities of the Regional Ensemble “Wilamowice” during the People’s Republic of Poland, and in the 1990s the activitiesrelated to the beatification and canonization of Archbishop Józef Bilczewski, who came fromWilamowice. Today, linguistic revitalization activities have a significant impact. Therefore,this text should be treated rather as a statement on the state of research and a contributionencouraging further research into the folklore of members of this multilingual ethnic group.