Macedonia from Close Up, Poland from A Distance in The Eyes of Zuzanna Topolińska

The article discusses the book Zmiana perspektywy. Gawęda nie tylko językoznawcza [Change of perspective. More than a tale of linguistics] by Zuzanna Topolińska (Cracow 2015). The author of this text emphasizes that the word gawęda [tale] in the book’s subtitle is misleading, given that, despite the style of language used in the book, Topolińska discusses important issues of a linguistic and intercultural nature. In her short essays in the first part of the book Topolińska addresses the organizational structure of philology studies in Poland and Macedonia, she confronts the Polish and Macedonian approach to the dialect general language relationship, she talks about language standards, about the differences between politeness in Poland and Macedonia, as well as the attitude towards women and the outlook toward religion in both countries. In the second part of the book Topolińska takes up lexical issues, giving examples of how under the influence of spiritual culture certain words in Polish and Macedonian that derive from the same core have taken on a different meaning. The author of the article concludes that this short and very personal book by Topolińska fulfills its task and subsequently alters his view on the linguistic and non-linguistic world of the Slavs