Edukacyjna rola tygodnika „Przyjaciółka” w życiu wiejskich kobiet w Polsce (1956–1975)

Abstract

The doctoral dissertation The educational role of the “Przyjaciółka” weekly in the lives of rural women in Poland (1956–1975) deals with the dissemination of knowledge by a periodical which was a leader on the Polish press market dedicated to women in the People’s Republic of Poland. It presents the educational role of a weekly addressed mainly to housewives, taking into account the changing political and social conditions in Poland, which had an impact on women’s magazines and the whole press system. The main source of the work are issues of the rural mutation of the weekly “Przyjaciółka” published in 1956–1975. In order to fully present the research problem, a so-called categorisation key was created, which included: modern household, hygiene in the countryside, health aspects of rural women, housewives’ work, extra-home activities, family and marital relations, and free time. The dissertation consists of four chapters. The first one concentrates on presenting the development of women’s press over the years. The theoretical considerations begin with diaries published in the middle of the 18th century, which were the prototype of the women’s press. Then the development of the Polish women’s press was presented until 1939, and further on the period of the Polish People’s Republic concentrating on the discussion of such periodicals as: “Kobieta i Życie”, “Filipinka”, “Uroda” as well as magazines published by the Women’s League addressed to women in other words “Kobieta Dzisiejsza”, “Kobieta” and “Zwierciadło”. Among magazines addressed to rural women “Kobieta Wiejska” and “Gospodyni” were presented. The second chapter, “Przyjaciółka” Characteristics and formal-dissemination features, presents the stages of the magazine’s development from the moment of taking up work on a new title in 1947, publishing the first issue in 1948, the takeover of the weekly by successive publishers, up to 1989, when the changes of the magazine’s ownership began. The chapter also presents the female editors of the journal who held office in the years 1948–1981, for example, Anna Lanota, Halina Koszutska, Anna Wysznacka, and Barbara Kusiel-Moroz. It also focuses on periodicity, the circulation, the graphic design of the periodical, and the readers of the magazine. In this part the Calendar of “Przyjaciółka”, which was a periodical publication of “Przyjaciółka” weekly, was also discussed. At the end, letters to the editorial office, which the magazine was famous for, were described, pointing out their number, subject matter, character, people writing them and giving answers to them. The third chapter, entitled Modernization of a rural household, presents the educational activities undertaken by the “Przyjaciółka” in the field of functioning of a modern household, for which a woman was responsible. This part of the work devotes some space to hygiene and health in the countryside and the forms of its popularization. The weekly “Przyjaciółka”, spreading an educational idea among its readers, widely presented the issue of hygiene and health of rural communities. “Przyjaciółka” educated its readers in every aspect of a woman’s life – a mother, wife and housewife. One of the most common forms adopted by the editorial staff and popular among the magazine’s readers was counseling. The fourth chapter discusses the forms of rural women’s emancipation and the way they were promoted by ‚“Przyjaciółka”. It presents the professional and social activity of rural housewives and the related division of duties in the family, showing the progress towards women’s liberation over the years. The educational character of “Przyjaciółka” was also manifested in the texts on conscious motherhood, contraception, and family planning. The way rural communities spent their free time also evolved over the years. The main manifestation in this respect was women’s involvement in the activities of the farmer’s wives’ association. They constituted a form of emancipation as they were a place of development, acquisition of practical knowledge, as well as an area of entertainment and leisure time opportunities for rural women. The conclusion shows the final conclusions from the analysis of the magazine. The paper fills a gap in the research on women’s press and the weekly “Przyjaciółka”, as the rural mutation of the periodical, which forms the basis of this study, has not been worked out yet.