Grzech i pokuta – etos sprawiedliwości w ludowym kodeksie moralnym

Abstract

An attempt is made to reconstruct the semantic core of the concept of SPRAWIEDLIWOŚĆ (JUSTICE) in Polish folklore, as well as to map the cognitive links between the concepts in the following semantic sequence: GRZECH (SIN) – KRZYWDA (HARM) – POKUTA (PENANCE) – SPRAWIEDLIWOŚĆ (JUSTICE). The etymologies of the relevant lexemes reveal the fundamental role of the opposition between the straight and the crooked, pol. prosty – krzywy, a semantic link in the chain of mutual relationships. These, in turn, are based on the preconceptual schema of PION (THE PERPENDICULAR) and its subdomains of RÓWNOWAGA (BALANCE), WIĘŹ (BOND), and KONTROLA (CONTROL). Sin and penance, conjoined in a cause-effect relationship, constitute a sequence of events necessary for the functioning of justice. An analysis of their profiles reveals that the folk modal code and the notion of justice had been shaped by both Christianity and by much earlier mythological thinking. The peculiarity of the folk ethos of justice stems from its heterogeneous axiological origin, connected with the taxonomy of sin and the measure of penance.