BESIEGED OUTPOST OF THE WEST, VICTIMIZATION AND OCCIDENTALIZATION IN THE REGIONALIST DISCOURSE

The article presents two selected dimensions of the Polish regionalist discourse: its tendencies of self- 'victimization' and 'occidentalization'. They refer to emphasizing of supposedly unusual sufferings and attachment to the Western culture of particular regional communities. The analysis has been carried out on the basis of the study of three Polish regions of considerable diversity: Silesian voivodship, Swietokrzyskie voivodship and Warminsko-Mazurskie voivodship. The discussion of victimization and occidentalization of the regional discourses has been related to the reflection over the nature of the Polish national identity. In the final part, the article uses Pierre Bourdieu's theory of the three types of capital to theorize about the two phenomena. At the same time, their assessment is linked to different ideological approaches.