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The case of Poland, that is modernization without a state, is the history of a nation that lost its statehood as a result of the partitions and was wiped off Europe's political map. According to Cichocki, the knowledge of nineteenth-century political history and twentieth-century socio-cultural determinants is of key importance for understanding contemporary Europe and, as the author is convinced, its weaknesses as well. Most often, they believed that Poland and Poles were inferior in culture to other countries, and even a threat to Western civilization in the event of an independent state emerging, while at the same time presuming the cultural and civilization superiority of the partitioning powers. [Extracted from the article]

Karwatowska has demonstrated that the stereotypes present in jokes are characterized by simplistic over-generalizations that are readily available to the recipient. The first part of the book, written by Malgorzata Karwatowska, is a discussion of stereotypes that are most apparent in Polish jokes. The analysis of cultural texts, especially in the context of Polish stereotypes, is a fascinating research endeavor, which was undertaken by Malgorzata Karwatowska and Leszek Tymiakin in their book I W'sród stereotypów i tekstów kultury. [Extracted from the article]