La «Pologne Populaire»: genèse et signification de la notion. Une page de l’histoire de la formation d’une modernité périphérique

The aim of the paper is to consider the concept of “People’s Poland,” which was coined and developed by representatives of the so-called Great Emigration, small emigration and (to a certain degree) in the Polish territories (1830s–1870s). Basing on the methodological categories of conceptual history, in our work we formulate three theses. Firstly, we consider “People’s Poland” as a historiosophical category which creates an asymmetrical pair of counter-concepts with “Noble Poland.” Secondly, we note that “People’s Poland” was also used as a label for an existing people’s class, and in this sense it served to create a new political subject. And thirdly, we point out that the concept of “People’s Poland” supported the formation of a common identity by the Polish Leftists of that time. In general, this article likewise can be treated as a contribution to the studies on the semantic continuity of the Polish Left and on the genealogy of the language of Stalinism in the 20th century.