Living its "polishness" on a mining area. : An essay in comparative cultural history since 1945 (Nord-Pas-de-Calais/Saône-et-Loire)

Mes recherches portent sur les traces de la "polonité" persistant dans les pays miniers du Nord – Pas-de-Calais et de Saône-et-Loire depuis 1945. Ces îlots de "polonité" seront appréhendés uniquement à travers les principales formes de pratiques culturelles (en particulier le milieu associatif) adoptées par les deuxième, troisième et quatrième générations de migrants polonais. Je m’interroge principalement sur les raisons de ce maintien de la "polonité", sur les rapports entretenus par cette population avec son origine culturelle et sur le rôle que peut jouer le milieu associatif dans ce positionnement.Almost a century after the arrival of the biggest wave of Polish immigration in France, Polish traditions remain amongst some of its descendants. The present thesis aims to track down the evolution of “Polishness” since 1945 in the mining areas of Saône-et-Loire and Nord – Pas-de-Calais, and to identify the reasons behind its persistence. Through the comparison of family and associative environments practices of individuals of Polish origins in these areas, the role of the territory on “Polishness” was analyzed. Three main periods were identified. During the first one, from 1945 to 1959, the territory served as a vector for “Polishness”. Driven by the mining companies during the inter-war period, this scheme favored a sense of belonging to the Polish community, to the mining world and to the home neighborhood, a juxtaposition which is particularly notable in the mining area of the Saône-et-Loire. Between 1960 and 1989, the territory is a place for expression and not only a vector for “Polishness”. The disruptions experienced by French society since the Sixties have led to the collapse of “Polishness”, which refocuses therefore on Catholicism and Polish folklore. During the third period between 1990 and 2015, a new role was added to the two previous ones and the territories of the study constitute places of Polish immigration’s memory. “Polishness” has become increasingly sporadic and “Frenchified”, and constitutes a means to distinguish oneself from others