From "Folk Religiosity" to "Lived Religion": Terminological Debate within the Polish Anthropology of Religion

Abstract

This article analyses the problematic and debated terminology used specifically within Polish anthropology of religion and proposes new paths more relevant in current transnational and non-binary focused interpretative contexts. In the 1980s, when the anthropological turn in Polish ethnography/ethnology took place, «folk religiosity» was the most common term used in anthropological studies on religion within Polish academia (most of these studies focused on Catholicism in a rural setting). This article examines the historical contexts which led to the formation and popularization of this term. It also exposes its limitations and contestations. Other terms used and debated by Polish anthropologists, such as «folk-type religion», «religious culture», «popular religion», are discussed in relation to past and present debates within the Polish anthropology of religion. As a solution to overcoming the obstacles generated by the use of the «folk religiosity» concept, the author proposes to introduce the term «lived religion». The practical approach of «lived religion» goes beyond «folk» - «elite», «non-official» - «official» binaries. Coined within the French sociology of religion (as «religion vécue») and since the 1990s popularized in Anglo-Saxon anthropology, the term «lived religion» reflects new approaches within studies on religion(s). These focus on the practical dimension of religion as well as its materiality and sensuality. Interestingly, all these topics can be also traced in particular studies on Catholicism by Polish researchers.