Mustafa Switat

Artykuł prezentuje refleksje socjologiczne nad recepcją „arabskiego” Orientu w kulturze polskiej. Jego podstawą są pierwsze wyniki analizy transferu pomiędzy kulturą arabską a kulturą polską: średniowiecznego srebra i innych elementów kultury materialnej, wartości religijnych i innych elementów kul­tury niematerialnej, koni oraz przedstawicieli arabskiej społeczności w Pol­sce. Przyswajanie i przyjęcie ww. arabskich elementów kulturowych (przed­miotów transferu) oraz podmioty tego transferu zostały przedstawione przez pryzmat wybranych teorii i pojęć socjologicznych, jak np. transnarodowość, naśladownictwo, percepcja oraz dyskurs.

With respect to the migration crisis in Europe, the Other (bad and dangerous) is generally identified with the Arab or Muslim communities (refugees). Negative perceiving of those groups in Poland is often based on stereotypes, myths and exaggerated facts. The paper will be concentrated to present an analysis of the genesis, history and effects of this phenomenon, illustrated with the example of the Arabs/Muslim in Poland. This paper is an attempt of deconstructing Muslimophobic narratives, its reasons, consequences and perspectives. It also presents public discourse on Muslim and refugees in Poland versus their reality. Additionally practical solutions how Muslimophobia can be counteracted here will be proposed. The planned analysis is based on the field study of an Arab community in Poland.

The article presents the history and specifics of Polish travelers traveling to Arabian lands (and Arab travelers to Poland) in the context of benefits (and possible losses) for both societies. Intercultural contact is analysed-how mutual relations (as a result of travelling) and Polish-Arab relations favoured cultural transfer and what forms it took and also how journeys influenced the Arab image in Poland.

Rasizm i mechanizmy mu pokrewne w kontekście badań nad diasporą arabską w Polsce Artykuł przedstawia genezę, ewolucję pojęcia rasizmu i mechanizmów mu pokrewnych oraz percepcji tych zjawisk we współczesnej Polsce na przykładzie diaspory arabskiej, której członkowie potencjalnie mogą się stać oraz często rzeczywiście stają się ofi arami rasizmu i zja-wisk mu podobnych. W artykule zaprezentowano pojęcia: rasizm, dystans społeczny, uprze-dzenia, dyskryminacja, stygmatyzacja, marginalizacja, wykluczenie, stereotypizacja " obcych " , ksenofobia oraz nietolerancja w aspekcie teorii socjologicznych. W tekście zaprezentowano rów-nież przykładowe wypowiedzi respondentów badań terenowych przeprowadzonych w dwunastu miastach Polski od maja 2013 do marca 2014 roku (członków arabskiej diaspory i Polaków) na tematy związane z postrzeganiem " obcych " i percepcją ww. zjawisk w Polsce. Słowa kluczowe: rasizm, negatywne mechanizmy obcości, diaspora arabska, Arabowie, Polacy, Polska Racism, Related Mechanisms and Arab Diaspora in Poland. Case Study Th is paper presents the genesis and evolution of the concept of racism and related mechanisms and the perception of those occurrences in contemporary Poland with regard to the Arab Diaspora, whose members can potentially be its victims and in fact they oft en are the victims of racism and related occurrences. Issues as: racism, social distance, prejudices, discrimination, stigmatization, marginalization, exclusion, stereotypization of an " alien " , xenophobia and intolerance are also presented in the context of sociological theories. Th e paper includes the opinions of respondents of fi eldwork conducted in twelve cities in Poland between May 2013 and March 2014 (members of Arab Diaspora and Poles) regarding the subjects connected with perceiving " aliens " and the perception of above mentioned occurrences in Poland.

The Arab community is one of the examples of an immigrant population in Poland. This minority is present in the public discourse as an imagined community, while it generally remains unknown and has not yet been scientifically explored. The aim of this article is therefore to present the specifics of this diaspora in Poland in the form of a research report based on the author’s own fieldwork.

The Arab empire had been formed long before the rise of the Polish state, so that period of the Arab-Polish relations should be viewed in a broader context, meaning Arab contacts with Slavs. The initial period of the Polish-Arab relations was mainly characterized by the unilateral interest of random Arab travelers coming to the Polish lands. Reports concerning Poland were included in the account by the Arab-speaking Ibrāhīm ibn Ya‘qūb  in the 10th century and in later accounts by al-Idrīsī (12th century), an Arab geographer who wrote Tabula Rogeriana, which contains very interesting descriptions of the city of Kraków/Cracow (then: the capital of Poland). The aim of the paper is to present the image of others: the Slavs (Poles) by Arab travelers, the image of Ibrāhīm ibn Ya‘qūb  in the Polish science (concentrating more on Ibrāhīm himself and less on what he reported about the Slavs and the Polish lands), stressing the importance of his account of the trip to the Slavic countries.

With respect to the current migration crisis in Europe, the term " alien " is generally identifi ed with the Arab or Muslim (for many people: Arab = Muslim) communities. The article contains an analysis of the origins, history, and effects of this phenomenon, illustrated with the example of the Arabs in Poland – a country where both of those communities are small, where there are few immigrants as a rule, and which is not directly impacted by the refugee crisis. In general, there were no negative experiences in Polish–Arabic relations, but—due to the lack of knowledge and personal interactions with members of the Arab (Muslim) diaspora—many Poles perceive them as aliens. Why are they aliens? When did they start being aliens? And if they have always been aliens, then are they aliens indeed? In the paper, I will present an analysis of the way members of the Arab diaspora are perceived as aliens and their sense of alienness in Poland. The analysis is based on the fi eld study of this community, with emphasis on the differences between the Arab migration to Poland/Eastern European countries and their migration to other European states. Additionally, a new theory of inclusion of an alien will be presented along with proposals concerning how to " tame " an alien for the sake of a common, confl ict-free existence—because " alien " often simply means the unknown and/or the unwanted to be known.