Obraz ludzi Podhala i Tatr w inskrypcjach ze starego cmentarza na Pęksowym Brzyzku w Zakopanem
Authors: Szczaus Agnieszka 
Published: July 2024

Image of Inhabitants of Podhale and the Tatra Mountains on Inscriptions in the Pęksowy Brzyzek Old Cemetery in Zakopane
Established in the 19th century, the cemetery in Pęksowy Brzyzek in Zakopane is one of the most intriguing burial sites in Poland. It is a religious resting ground where remains of Roman Catholics are buried. The cemetery is located over brzyzek &ndash; a steep cliff of the Cicha Woda brook, on land gifted by Jan Pęksa. Both the name of the founder and the features of the area gave rise to its local name &ndash; Pęksowy Brzyzek. When a new cemetery was created in Zakopane in 1908, the Pęksowy Brzyzek Cemetery became known as the Old Cemetery. This burial ground holds the remains of inhabitants of Zakopane, but also those coming from outside Podhale, who were important for the area. In 1931, the art restorer entered the Cemetery into the register of historic monuments, and since that moment on it has also been known as the Historic Cemetery or the Cemetery of the Distinguished.
The gravestone inscriptions in the Zakopane Cemetery are also referred to as epitaphs, epigraphs or gravestones, i.e. short, separate texts that are complete semantically and formally, and provide information on the life and death of a person, thus serving an informative and commemorative function. Moreover, at the Cemetery there are some commemorative inscriptions dedicated to certain people who were connected with the area of Zakopane and Podhale, however, they were buried elsewhere.
The objective of this work was to recreate the image of inhabitants of Podhale and the Tatra Mountains that was preserved in gravestone and commemorative inscriptions in the Old Cemetery in Zakopane. We follow the definition of the linguistic image of J. Bartmiński &ndash; an interpretation of reality incorporated in language, also verbalized, which may be encapsulated as the view of the world.
For the purposes of the work, the term inhabitants of Podhale and the Tatra Mountains is understood in a certain, broad way &ndash; the group includes people born in Podhale who were connected with Podhale and the Tatra Mountains throughout their lives, but also those who come from other areas (also from outside Poland) and decided to live their lives in the mountains and Podhale, worked for the benefit of the community of Zakopane and Podhale, pursued their passions and devoted their lives to experience the mountains as explorers or researchers. It also includes those who came to Zakopane for tourism or sport and decided to move to the Tatra Mountains, and those who came here searching for medical treatment (especially at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries) and never came back to their hometowns. Basically, anyone who was buried in the Old Cemetery or who was buried elsewhere but whose life and work were appreciated by the community of Zakopane and Podhale and commemorated at the Cemetery.
The research was based on 569 inscriptions collected at the Old Cemetery in Zakopane in 2018 and 2019, which commemorate 685 people (397 men, 288 women). The analysis mainly focused on the lexical elements, but also certain grammatical features of the language of the inscriptions.
It was shown that the analyzed inscriptions reflect three aspects of human life &ndash; social and professional lives of the commemorated people, their family environment, and the religious and spiritual life. Therefore the work is divided into three chapter &ndash; Chapter I (People of Podhale and the Tatra Mountains in social and professional relations) reconstructs the image preserved in the inscriptions of the inhabitants of Podhale and the Tatra Mountains engaging in various social and professional relations. Those relations are significant, because for many years achievements of a given persons have been the primary criterion for commemorating them at the Old Cemetery (it needs to be emphasized that it is also referred to as the Cemetery of the Distinguished), both in the form of burial or a commemorative plaque. The analysis allowed us to recreate the system used to measure and evaluate the social and professional efforts, make a list of the professions (e.g. mountain rescuer, guide, artist, soldier) who are especially greatly appreciated in Podhale, and also track how such contribution was encapsulated linguistically.
Chapter II (People of Podhale and the Tatra Mountains in relationships with family and friends) recaptures family relationships established by those commemorated by the epitaphs. It was shown that the roles that are most clearly and consistently emphasized in the inscriptions are the ones of the wife and the daughter, less frequently the mother, the sister. They were marked with lexical elements, but also distinctive grammatical elements (e.g. Polish suffixes signifying femininity, such as -owa, -&oacute;wna). The roles of men &ndash; the husband, the father, the son &ndash; were just marginally present in epitaphs. This image reflects the traditional, uneven division of social male and female roles preserved in epitaphs. The main female domain (despite the changes occurring in recent years) mostly remains to be home and family, whereas the major sphere of male activity is outside home (the work environment and circles of common interests among friends, as well as public, political and social activities).
Chapter III (People of Podhale and the Tatra Mountains in relations with Sacrum) shows that the Old Cemetery inscriptions clearly display the religious aspect, as observed on the example of numerous and varied references to God, Christ and Mother of God. They are an important element comprising the image of the inhabitants of Podhale and the Tatra Mountains who especially cherish their traditional system of values and contemplating God as the supreme good.
The inscriptions in Zakopane show respect to the dead and pride with what their ancestors have accomplished, preserving the memory about their actions and compelling us to reflect. As they emphasize the relation between the commemorated people and Poland, the region, a given social and professional group and the family, they are also treated as a distinguishing element of inclusivity and identity.