Human Beings – Animals and Animals as Human Beings. Tar Makers in Relation to the Nature

The article discusses the question of human-nature relation among the group of tar makers and their families, living in Bieszczady mountains. Tar makers are the forestry workers making charcoal in resorts. This profession is traditional for this region and the neighbouring. The main consequences of working as a tar maker are the specific isolation from the society and living surrounded by forest. Based on a results of a fieldwork carried out in Bieszczady in January 2014, author tries to answer the question, whether the specifity of the tar maker profession influences the vision of nature, flora and fauna, and the relation between man and nature. By analysing the language used to describe the forest and generally the nature and by asking about the personal feelings and stories about work, forest, plants, pets and wild animals, the author is trying to discover the key used to conceptualize the place of humans in the natural world and to place it in the wider context of the nature – culture and human - animal relation present in the European culture.

The article discusses the question of human-nature relation among the group of tar makers and their families, living in Bieszczady mountains. Tar makers are the forestry workers making charcoal in resorts. This profession is traditional for this region and the neighbouring. The main consequences of working as a tar maker are the specific isolation from the society and living surrounded by forest. Based on a results of a fieldwork carried out in Bieszczady in January 2014, author tries to answer the question, whether the specifity of the tar maker profession influences the vision of nature, flora and fauna, and the relation between man and nature. By analysing the language used to describe the forest and generally the nature and by asking about the personal feelings and stories about work, forest, plants, pets and wild animals, the author is trying to discover the key used to conceptualize the place of humans in the natural world and to place it in the wider context of the nature – culture and human - animal relation present in the European culture.