- The Laboratory for the Study
of Collective Memory in Post-communist Europe – POSTCOMER
Nicolaus Copernicus University [NCU]
ul. Fosa Staromiejska 3
87-100 Toruń
Poland - +48/56 611 35 95
Adam F. Kola
Nicolaus Copernicus University, Faculty of Languages, Faculty Member
- University of Chicago, The Stevanovich Institute on the Formation of Knowledge, Department Memberadd
- Comparative Literature, Intellectual History, World Literatures, Literary Theory, Polish Studies, Polish Literature, and 27 morePolish History, Slavic Studies, Slavistics, Balkan Studies, World Systems Analysis, Migration History, Migration Studies, Emigration Research, Diasporas, Cultural Theory, Transnationalism, Diaspora and transnationalism, Transnational and World History, World History, Actor Network Theory, Actor-Network-Theory, Cultural History of Central Europe, Central European Studies, Sociology of Intellectuals, Intellectual and cultural history, European intellectual history, History of Ideas, European Studies, Multilingualism, Translingualism, Translingual Literature, and History of Humanitiesedit
- My personal webpage: http://adamkola.eu/ I am an assistant professor in the Laboratory for the Study of Collective M... moreMy personal webpage: http://adamkola.eu/
I am an assistant professor in the Laboratory for the Study of Collective Memory in Post-Communist Europe – POSTCOMER and the Laboratory for Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies, both at the Faculty of Languages (Nicolaus Copernicus University). As of September 2016, I am also Deputy Dean for Management and Development at my Faculty.
EDUCATION: I hold a BA and MA in Slavonic Philology and a PhD in Literary Studies from Nicolaus Copernicus University. I studied at the Faculty of Oriental Studies and Intercultural Relations at the University of Warsaw, and at the Institute of Culture, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. I have also held positions at the Baltic University and Uppsala University in Sweden, as well as in the Department of Philosophy at Charles University in Prague. In 2011, I participated in a program at the Institute for World Literature (Beijing, PRC), organized by Harvard University and Peking University.
SCHOLARSHIPS: I am the recipient of numerous scholarships, including a postdoctoral scholarship in the US from the Foundation for Polish Science [FPS]. In America I worked as a Visiting Scholar at the Harriman Institute of Columbia doing archival research in the Bakhmeteff Archive of Russian and East European History and Culture (Butler Library). I have also done research in the Houghton Library of the Harvard College Library and in the Roman Jakobson Archive at MIT, in the Czech Republic (Prague, České Budějovice – postdoctoral fellowship), and in Slovenia and Croatia. I was awarded a START stipend for young researchers by the FPS in 2009 and 2010, the fellowship KWERENDA [FPS] for archival research in the US in 2012, and took part in the FPS MENTORING Program, working with mentor Professor Haun Saussy, University of Chicago (2012-2014). I have also held a fellowship for outstanding young scholars from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Poland (2012-2015), and received the academic award of the "Polityka" weekly newsmagazine (2014). Starting from 2016, I am a visiting researcher at the Stavanovich Institute on the Formation of Knowledge at the University of Chicago.
PUBLICATIONS: In 2018, I published the book "Socialist postcolonialism. Memory Reconsolidation", in 2011 "Europe in Polish, Czech and Croatian Discourse: Critical Reconfiguration" , and in 2004 "Czech and Russian Slavophilism in Comparison" (all in Polish). Together with co-editor Andrzej Szahaj I published "Philosophy and Ethics of Interpretation" in 2007, with Marcin Kafar "Ethical and Moral Aspects of the ‘Humanities’ Practices’" in 2015, and with Marcin Wołk, a special issue of the academic journal "Litteraria Copernicana" 2/2015 [ISSN 1899–315X] titled "Advantages of Comparison". I am the author of about 100 papers in the Polish, Czech, Russian, German and English, and do translations from Czech and English into Polish.
EDITORIAL BOARDS: I am a member of the editorial board of the journal "Archiwum Emigracji" and of the book series "Projekty Komparatystyki" (Universitas Publishing House, Kraków, Poland).
ACADEMIC INTERESTS: My research has focused primarily on East and Central European intellectual history, the history of ideas and comparative literature of the 19th and 20th centuries. One of my major research themes is (transatlantic) knowledge transfer during and after WWII with a focus on two particular aspects of the migrations of East and Central European intellectuals: (1) the condition of public intellectuals in changing contexts; and (2) the translingualism that occurred in the process. The frame of reference is provided by the institutional circumstances of the migrants and the biographies of migrant intellectuals (literary scholars, linguists, translators and writers; all of them language-oriented) which remain largely forgotten, suppressed or plainly unknown (sociology of intellectual life as a framework for this project, based on archival research). The initial stage of my first project on knowledge transfer began in 2007 and ended in 2015. During that time I conducted archival research in Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and the United States.
My other field of interest is the issue of (re)construction of supra/national identities in post/socialist East and Central European countries in the wider context of 19th- and 20th-century socio-political thought. The project is rooted in my earlier research concerning Slavophilism and “Europe.” I rely on everyday life archival materials and my own visual studies (e.g. sociology and anthropology in the context of lieux de mémoire and cultural studies in investigations of comic books and modern film).
In both projects intellectual or political history is understood as a cultural and comparative history of ideas, and examined based on archival research.edit
The current migrant crisis has recently become one of the most significant topics of political and public debate not only in Europe but, in different forms and on a different scale, all over the world. Border barriers (fences and walls)... more
The current migrant crisis has recently become one of the most significant topics of political and public debate not only in Europe but, in different forms and on a different scale, all over the world. Border barriers (fences and walls) and sinking asylum seekers’ boats, human trafficking and smuggling are among the most visible signs of contemporary violence. There is no doubt that the refugee crisis has reached global proportions and represents one of the most serious challenges of late modernity. However, widely understood migration – its different forms and practices, causes and objectives – is as old as humankind.
The main topic of our interest at this conference is e/migrations as an object of comparative studies within different traditions, schools, and approaches, as well as migrations as a comparative and comparatists’ experience. We seek the answer to the following questions: What is the relevance of earlier theoretical concepts and approaches, such as postcolonialism and decoloniality, roots and routes, diasporic, cosmopolitan and transnational identities in the 21st century? How does migration change our thinking about home, belonging, language and self in an age of globalization but also defensive fundamentalism and conservative backlash? What is the effect of analyzing migratory itineraries in a comparative framework? How do migrations reconfigure our understanding of the legacies of violence?
We hope that the conference will open up a discussion on new forms and new understandings of e/migrations and migrant experience; it will also enable us to face emerging questions about the place of migrants, immigrants, emigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced persons in the contemporary world and beyond. We are interested in all topics and problems related to e/migration in the context of cultural production: literature, film, music, and all other forms of artistic production. We encourage you to consider both linear narratives of migration and more experimental ways of representing migration traumas and crises.
The main topic of our interest at this conference is e/migrations as an object of comparative studies within different traditions, schools, and approaches, as well as migrations as a comparative and comparatists’ experience. We seek the answer to the following questions: What is the relevance of earlier theoretical concepts and approaches, such as postcolonialism and decoloniality, roots and routes, diasporic, cosmopolitan and transnational identities in the 21st century? How does migration change our thinking about home, belonging, language and self in an age of globalization but also defensive fundamentalism and conservative backlash? What is the effect of analyzing migratory itineraries in a comparative framework? How do migrations reconfigure our understanding of the legacies of violence?
We hope that the conference will open up a discussion on new forms and new understandings of e/migrations and migrant experience; it will also enable us to face emerging questions about the place of migrants, immigrants, emigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced persons in the contemporary world and beyond. We are interested in all topics and problems related to e/migration in the context of cultural production: literature, film, music, and all other forms of artistic production. We encourage you to consider both linear narratives of migration and more experimental ways of representing migration traumas and crises.
Research Interests:
The current migrant crisis has recently become one of the most significant topics of political and public debate not only in Europe but, in different forms and on a different scale, all over the world. Border barriers (fences and walls)... more
The current migrant crisis has recently become one of the most significant topics of political and public debate not only in Europe but, in different forms and on a different scale, all over the world. Border barriers (fences and walls) and sinking asylum seekers' boats, human trafficking and smuggling are among the most visible signs of contemporary violence. There is no doubt that the refugee crisis has reached global proportions and represents one of the most serious challenges of late modernity. However, widely understood migration – its different forms and practices, causes and objectives – is as old as humankind. The main topic of our interest at this conference is e/migrations as an object of comparative studies within different traditions, schools, and approaches, as well as migrations as a comparative and comparatists' experience. We seek the answer to the following questions: What is the relevance of earlier theoretical concepts and approaches, such as postcolonialism and decoloniality, roots and routes, diasporic, cosmopolitan and transnational identities in the 21 st century? How does migration change our thinking about home, belonging, language and self in an age of globalization but also defensive fundamentalism and conservative backlash? What is the effect of analyzing migratory itineraries in a comparative framework? How do migrations reconfigure our understanding of the legacies of violence? We hope that the conference will open up a discussion on new forms and new understandings of e/migrations and migrant experience; it will also enable us to face emerging questions about the place of migrants, immigrants, emigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced persons in the contemporary world and beyond. We are interested in all topics and problems related to e/migration in the context of cultural production: literature, film, music, and all other forms of artistic production. We encourage you to consider both linear narratives of migration and more experimental ways of representing migration traumas and crises. We would like to invite scholars form different fields of the humanities and social sciences who will share their ideas on the following topics: The history and tradition of e/migrations; Post/memory of e/migrations, i.e. including experience of the first, second and third generations of migrants; The representation of diasporas and diasporic identities today; gender and sexuality in the context of migration and diasporic experience
Research Interests:
The current migrant crisis has recently become one of the most significant topics of political and public debate not only in Europe but, in different forms and on a different scale, all over the world. Border barriers (fences and walls)... more
The current migrant crisis has recently become one of the most significant topics of political and public debate not only in Europe but, in different forms and on a different scale, all over the world. Border barriers (fences and walls) and sinking asylum seekers’ boats, human trafficking and smuggling are among the most visible signs of contemporary violence. There is no doubt that the refugee crisis has reached global proportions and represents one of the most serious challenges of late modernity. However, widely understood migration – its different forms and practices, causes and objectives – is as old as humankind.
The main topic of our interest at this conference is e/migrations as an object of comparative studies within different traditions, schools, and approaches, as well as migrations as a comparative and comparatists’ experience. We seek the answer to the following questions: What is the relevance of earlier theoretical concepts and approaches, such as postcolonialism and decoloniality, roots and routes, diasporic, cosmopolitan and transnational identities in the 21st century? How does migration change our thinking about home, belonging, language and self in an age of globalization but also defensive fundamentalism and conservative backlash? What is the effect of analyzing migratory itineraries in a comparative framework? How do migrations reconfigure our understanding of the legacies of violence?
We hope that the conference will open up a discussion on new forms and new understandings of e/migrations and migrant experience; it will also enable us to face emerging questions about the place of migrants, immigrants, emigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced persons in the contemporary world and beyond. We are interested in all topics and problems related to e/migration in the context of cultural production: literature, film, music, and all other forms of artistic production. We encourage you to consider both linear narratives of migration and more experimental ways of representing migration traumas and crises.
We would like to invite scholars form different fields of the humanities and social sciences who will share their ideas on the following topics:
• The history and tradition of e/migrations;
• Post/memory of e/migrations, i.e. including experience of the first, second and third generations of migrants;
• The representation of diasporas and diasporic identities today; gender and sexuality in the context of migration and diasporic experience
• The problem of translingualism as a challenge to national (literary) canon formation;
• Cosmopolitanism, global citizenship, statelessness and expatriatism;
• Migrations hubs and non-places as cultural intersections on travel routes;
• Capitalist expansion, labor migrations (both forced and voluntary) and the post/colonial condition;
• Migrations genres and artistic manifestations;
• Traveling theories and theorists;
• Nature and landscape, climate migrations, environmental refugees,
• Migrations and violence (changing borders, wars, population transfers or resettlements, deportation and ethnic cleansing).
The conference will be held in Toruń, Poland, on April 24-26 2019, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Faculty of Languages at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The conference is organized jointly with the Polish Comparative Literature Association.
Confirmed keynotes and invited speakers:
• Stanley Bill, Cambridge University
• Dagmara Drewniak, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań
• Dorota Kołodziejczyk, University of Wrocław
• Haun Saussy, University of Chicago.
• Roma Sendyka, Jagiellonian University, Kraków
• Bożena Shallcross, University of Chicago
• Olga Solovieva, University of Chicago
• Galin Tihanov, Queen Mary University of London
Deadline for the submission of proposals (300 words) and a short CV (150 words): 5 January 2018. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by the mid of January 2019.
All correspondence, including the submission of proposals and a short CV, should be addressed to: [email protected]
We encourage you to submit:
1) Individual proposals for 20-minute presentations,
2) Panel proposals (consisting of at least three papers),
3) Poster session proposals.
The conference language will be English.
Conference fee
Conference fee for affiliated academics is 500 PLN or 125 Euros and for PhD and MA students 350 PLN or 80 Euros. It covers the costs of conference materials, coffee breaks, lunches and opening banquet. It does not cover accommodation and travel expenses. Account number for bank transfer will be provided upon the acceptance of proposal. Further details will be provided in the second circular.
Conference webpage: https://www.fil.umk.pl/xx-lecie-wydzialu/
Social events include:
1) Guided tour of the Toruń Old Town and The Olender (settlers from the Netherlands and Friesland, members of the Protestant Mennonite group) Ethnographic Park
2) Additional trip to Gdańsk-Sopot-Gdynia on Saturday, April 27, 2019, with a guided tour of the Emigration Museum in Gdynia
The main topic of our interest at this conference is e/migrations as an object of comparative studies within different traditions, schools, and approaches, as well as migrations as a comparative and comparatists’ experience. We seek the answer to the following questions: What is the relevance of earlier theoretical concepts and approaches, such as postcolonialism and decoloniality, roots and routes, diasporic, cosmopolitan and transnational identities in the 21st century? How does migration change our thinking about home, belonging, language and self in an age of globalization but also defensive fundamentalism and conservative backlash? What is the effect of analyzing migratory itineraries in a comparative framework? How do migrations reconfigure our understanding of the legacies of violence?
We hope that the conference will open up a discussion on new forms and new understandings of e/migrations and migrant experience; it will also enable us to face emerging questions about the place of migrants, immigrants, emigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced persons in the contemporary world and beyond. We are interested in all topics and problems related to e/migration in the context of cultural production: literature, film, music, and all other forms of artistic production. We encourage you to consider both linear narratives of migration and more experimental ways of representing migration traumas and crises.
We would like to invite scholars form different fields of the humanities and social sciences who will share their ideas on the following topics:
• The history and tradition of e/migrations;
• Post/memory of e/migrations, i.e. including experience of the first, second and third generations of migrants;
• The representation of diasporas and diasporic identities today; gender and sexuality in the context of migration and diasporic experience
• The problem of translingualism as a challenge to national (literary) canon formation;
• Cosmopolitanism, global citizenship, statelessness and expatriatism;
• Migrations hubs and non-places as cultural intersections on travel routes;
• Capitalist expansion, labor migrations (both forced and voluntary) and the post/colonial condition;
• Migrations genres and artistic manifestations;
• Traveling theories and theorists;
• Nature and landscape, climate migrations, environmental refugees,
• Migrations and violence (changing borders, wars, population transfers or resettlements, deportation and ethnic cleansing).
The conference will be held in Toruń, Poland, on April 24-26 2019, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Faculty of Languages at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The conference is organized jointly with the Polish Comparative Literature Association.
Confirmed keynotes and invited speakers:
• Stanley Bill, Cambridge University
• Dagmara Drewniak, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań
• Dorota Kołodziejczyk, University of Wrocław
• Haun Saussy, University of Chicago.
• Roma Sendyka, Jagiellonian University, Kraków
• Bożena Shallcross, University of Chicago
• Olga Solovieva, University of Chicago
• Galin Tihanov, Queen Mary University of London
Deadline for the submission of proposals (300 words) and a short CV (150 words): 5 January 2018. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by the mid of January 2019.
All correspondence, including the submission of proposals and a short CV, should be addressed to: [email protected]
We encourage you to submit:
1) Individual proposals for 20-minute presentations,
2) Panel proposals (consisting of at least three papers),
3) Poster session proposals.
The conference language will be English.
Conference fee
Conference fee for affiliated academics is 500 PLN or 125 Euros and for PhD and MA students 350 PLN or 80 Euros. It covers the costs of conference materials, coffee breaks, lunches and opening banquet. It does not cover accommodation and travel expenses. Account number for bank transfer will be provided upon the acceptance of proposal. Further details will be provided in the second circular.
Conference webpage: https://www.fil.umk.pl/xx-lecie-wydzialu/
Social events include:
1) Guided tour of the Toruń Old Town and The Olender (settlers from the Netherlands and Friesland, members of the Protestant Mennonite group) Ethnographic Park
2) Additional trip to Gdańsk-Sopot-Gdynia on Saturday, April 27, 2019, with a guided tour of the Emigration Museum in Gdynia
Research Interests: Critical Theory, History, World Literatures, Comparative Literature, Translation Studies, and 15 moreGlobalization, Transnationalism, Postcolonial Studies, Environmental Studies, World History, Migrant Literature, Memory Studies, Diaspora Studies, Emigration Research, Migrant and Diasporic Literature, Central and Eastern Europe, Literary studies, Translingualism, Emigration, and Postmemory
The book 'Socjalistyczny postkolonializm. Rekonsolidacja pamięci' (Socialist Postcolonialism: Memory Reconsolidation) is about the Polish postcolonial tradition of before 1989, which has been blanked out of memory. The year 2000, i.e.,... more
The book 'Socjalistyczny postkolonializm. Rekonsolidacja pamięci' (Socialist Postcolonialism: Memory Reconsolidation) is about the Polish postcolonial tradition of before 1989, which has been blanked out of memory. The year 2000, i.e., the year in which the Polish translation of Ewa Thompson’s book Imperial Knowledge. Russian Literature and Colonialism appeared, is taken as the beginning of Polish postcolonial thought. However, the general thesis of the present book is that widely understood postcolonialism functioned in Poland before 1989. The real beginning of thinking in postcolonial terms started with the World Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of Peace, held in Wrocław in 1948. The purpose of the book is to reconstruct the rubbed out history of socialist postcolonialism and to determine the reasons why this cultural phenomenon was remembered/forgotten. This first task is achieved by analyzing political, press, literary, scientific and artistic discourses referring to the so-called Third World and its relations with the semi-peripheral Second World, i.e., Poland; while the second task is treated within an original conceptual framework for writing about remembering/forgetting, using the category of re/consolidation drawn from neuroscience and psychology. The work uses the terms “socialist postcolonialism” and “postcolonialism of the Second World” alternately and refers to postcolonial studies, although conceptually it is rooted in memory studies which are also seeing intense development in Poland.
Research Interests: Non Fiction Writing, World Literatures, Globalization, Globalisation and cultural change, Postcolonial Studies, and 154 moreWorld Systems Analysis, Propaganda, Polish History, Cold War and Culture, Cultural Cold War, History and Memory, Cold War, Socialisms, Central Europe, Central European history, World History, Colonialism, Global Studies, Vietnamese History, Communism, Post-Colonialism, Globalisation and Development, Globalization And Postcolonial Studies, Memory Studies, Social and Collective Memory, Cultural Memory, China, Polish Literature, Global History, Vietnam War, Collective Memory, Postcolonial Theory, Early Postwar (1945-1950), Polish Studies, Postcolonial Literature, Vietnam, Social Memory, Postcolonial Writing, Decolonialization, Central European Studies, Socialism, Post-Socialism, Postcolonial Studies (Literature), Cold War International Relations, Postcolonial theory (Cultural Theory), Poland, Slavistics, Soft Power, Edward Said, Frantz Fanon, Aime Cesaire, Aimé Césaire, Cold War history, Frantz Fanon (Literature), Korean War, Decolonisation, Socialist Realism, Decolonial Turn, Third World, Central and Eastern Europe, Memory Consolidation, Central and East European Studies, Memory, Decolonial Thought, The Cold War, East-Central European History, Anticolonial Framework, Susan Buck-Morss, Robert J. C. Young, Slavic Studies, History of Communism, World-Systems Analysis, Korea, Cold War Studies, Postcolonialismo, Decolonizing Methodologies, North Korea (politics and society), Soft Power and International Relations, Cultural Globalization, Decolonization, Gayatri Spivak, Anticolonial Theory, POSTCOLONIAL, history of Poland, Manchuria, History of Manchuria, Postcoloniality and decolonization, Polish language, literature and culture, Polish poetry, World-Systems Theory, Social realism, First Indochina War, Anti-Colonialism, Polish Foreign Policy, Postwar literature, Decolonialidad, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Travellogues, Anthropology of Socialism and Postsocialism, History of Poland in twentieth century, Edward Said; orientalism; Anti-Westernism, Theories of Socialism, Edward W. Said, Indochina War, Postwar Europe, Postcolonial Thought, Postcolonial, Subaltern, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Franz Fanon, Anticolonialism, History of Socialism, Michael Rothberg, Soft Power and Public Diplomacy, border China Russia Manchuria, Central and Eastern European Politics, Modernity/coloniality/decoloniality, History of Polish Literature, Edward Said's Orientalism, Postkolonialisme, Postkolonyalizm, Indochina Wars, Decolonial and Anticolonial Research, Anticolonialisme, World System, History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, Postcolonial and Anticolonial Studies, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Anticolonial and Postcolonial Studies, Third world Marxisms/Tricontinental Marxisms (Mao, Central and Eastern European Studies, Nationalism and Decolonization, Decoloniality Thought, Vietnam/Indochina, Conflict & Security, Postcolonialism, Transnational/Multidirectional Memory, The Indochina War, Dekolonialität, Dekolonisierung, CULTURE OF DEFENCE AND PEACE, Anticolonialismo, Postkolonialismus Literaturwissenschaft, Postkoloniale Theorie, Postkolonialismus, Teoria Postkolonialna, Dekolonizacja, Studia Postkolonialne, Postkolonializm, Russians In Manchuria, Literatura Postkolonialna, Postkolonijalizam, Postcolonial Theory and Anticolonial Writing, Poskolonialisme, postkoloniale Literatur und Theorie, Memory reconsolidation, Foreign Policy of Poland and other Central and Eastern European States, global socialism, Studia Postzależnościowe I Postkolonialne, global East Asia, World Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of Peace, and Global East
Research Interests:
M. Kafar, A.F. Kola, eds., Etyczno-moralne aspekty „praktyk humanistycznych” [Ethical and Moral Aspects of the ‘Humanities’ Practices’], Toruń-Łódź: Humanistics Forum 2015, pp. 254 [PL]
Research Interests: Anthropology, Ethics, Humanities, Social Anthropology, Social Sciences, and 29 moreResearch Methodology, Ethnography, Research Ethics, Social and Cultural Anthropology, History of Social Sciences, History of Anthropology, Autoethnography, Education Research Ethics, Autobiography, Biography, Ethnology, Philosophy of Social Science, Ethnography (Research Methodology), Sociology of Ethics and Morality, Moral Philosophy, Cultural Anthropology, Moral and Political Philosophy, Collaborative Autoethnography, Moral, Ethnographic & autoethnographic research, Ethics, Moral Philosophy, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences, History of Humanities, History and Philosophy of Social Sciences, Autobiography and life writing studies, History of Ethnology, Ethnology and Ethnography, Ethics of Scientific Research, and Social Science
As an attachment
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Cultural Studies, Eastern European Studies, European Studies, Comparative Literature, and 16 moreCentral Europe, Central European history, European Union, European identity, Intellectual and cultural history, History of Consciousness, History of Central and Southeastern Europe, Central European Studies, Cultural History of Central Europe, European intellectual history, Slavistics, Central and Eastern Europe, Slavic Studies, building a European identity, Intelectual History, and European identities
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Russian Studies, Comparative Literature, Central Europe, Central European history, and 16 moreCzech & Slovak Studies, Central European Studies, 19th Century Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, Slavic, East-Central European History, Slavic Studies, Slavophiles, Intelectual History, Russian and Slavonic Studies, Slavic Philology, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Panslavism, Slavophilism, and Panslavizam
Co-authored with: Renata Lesner, Dawid Martin,Teresa Okoniewska, Adam Szwarc,Beata Zimnicka
Research Interests:
What is missing from the world history perspective is the semi-peripheral – in this particular case, Polish – contribution. Polish historian Marian Małowist (1909-1988) was cited by Immanuel Wallerstein as his main inspiration and in fact... more
What is missing from the world history perspective is the semi-peripheral – in this particular case, Polish – contribution. Polish historian Marian Małowist (1909-1988) was cited by Immanuel Wallerstein as his main inspiration and in fact a founding father (aside from Fernand Braudel) of world-system theory (The Modern XI). In a preface to Małowist’s collection of articles Wallerstein writes that the Polish historian was “one of the most fertile and cultivated minds who have written on the central issue of our times – the wide and widening gulf between the core and the periphery, the North and the South, western and eastern Europe” (vii). For Wallerstein Małowist is “a pioneer of world-system analysis” (ix).
In this chapter, I will only focus on some of his ideas, mainly (but not only) those related to non-European worlds and to the basic ideas of world-systems theory which eventually inspired early perspectives in world history. This chapter has at least three aims: firstly, to reconstruct Małowist’s basic ideas; secondly, to compare them to Braudel’s and Wallerstein’s (but also others scholars from world(-)systems theory, widely understood); and thirdly, to apply Małowist’s concepts to the field of world literature, if possible.
In this chapter, I will only focus on some of his ideas, mainly (but not only) those related to non-European worlds and to the basic ideas of world-systems theory which eventually inspired early perspectives in world history. This chapter has at least three aims: firstly, to reconstruct Małowist’s basic ideas; secondly, to compare them to Braudel’s and Wallerstein’s (but also others scholars from world(-)systems theory, widely understood); and thirdly, to apply Małowist’s concepts to the field of world literature, if possible.
Research Interests: World Literatures, Comparative Literature, Transnational and World History, World Systems Analysis, Comparative History, and 36 moreCentral Europe, Central European history, World History, Croatian History, Theory of History, Global History, World Literature, History of Central and Southeastern Europe, Central European Studies, History of Historiography, Southeastern Europe, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian literature, Dalmatian history, Comparative Historical Analysis, Fernand Braudel, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, Historiography and Philosophy of History, World-Systems Analysis, Southeast Europe, Literatura Comparada (Comparative Literature), Croatia, World-Systems Theory, Dalmatia, Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, Dubrovnik, Immanuel Wallerstein, Central and Southeast Europe, World-Systems, History of Southeastern Europe, Southeast European Studies, Croatian Language and Literature, History of Dubrovnik, World Languages and Literatures, World System, and Marian Małowist
The text presents a new interpretation of the Old Rus’ Primary Chronicle through the lens of I. Wallerstein’s and A.G. Frank’s World(-)System Theories, combined with social constructivism and historical anthropology, which will allow the... more
The text presents a new interpretation of the Old Rus’ Primary Chronicle through the lens of I. Wallerstein’s and A.G. Frank’s World(-)System Theories, combined with social constructivism and historical anthropology, which will allow the author to elaborate on the utility and advantages that this concept offers for the large-scale study of pre-modern literature.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Russian Studies, World Literatures, Russian Literature, Historical Anthropology, and 25 moreMedieval Literature, World Systems Analysis, Constructivism, World Literature, Russian History, Intellectual and cultural history, Social Constructionism/ Constructivism, Russian Intellectual History, Russia, Slavic Studies, World-Systems Analysis, Large scale systems, World-Systems Theory, Slavic, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies, Medieval Slavic literature, Immanuel Wallerstein, Medieval Slavic Manuscripts, Russian Primary Chronicle, World Development and World History According to Andre Gunder Frank, Historical Anthropology, Microhistory, Russian and Slavic Studies, Large Scale, World Languages and Literatures, World System, and Medieval Russian History
In its classical versions, intellectual history or the history of ideas tries to maintain distance from social life. In dealing with social context—whether historical, cultural, or political—it does so only in pursuit of a “better”... more
In its classical versions, intellectual history or the history of ideas tries to maintain distance from social life. In dealing with social context—whether historical, cultural, or political—it does so only in pursuit of a “better” explanation of a particular intellectual tradition. This makes us pose the question of how to research the effects of intellectual interventions upon the social world or, indeed, their effects upon other intellectual interventions. There are, of course, some “topics-in-charge” within this field (such as the transition from Marx and Marxism to the reality of twentieth-century socialist states or the rise of fascism and Nazism in the first half of the twentieth century), but the overlap of the history of ideas and sociology has yet to be either explored sufficiently, or properly problematized and theorized. This essay is an attempt to examine the activity of intellectuals in society and to evaluate how the effects of their interventions influence social life. It focuses upon the overlap of intellectual history and sociology, and presents possible benefits of the sociology of (public) intellectuals for the history of ideas.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, History of Ideas, Sociology of Knowledge, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean Paul Sartre, and 10 moreSociology of Intellectuals, Intellectual and cultural history, European intellectual history, Sartre, Public Intellectuals, History of Political Ideas, History of science and ideas, French Intellectual History, Sociology of Public Intellectuals, and History of Ideas and Social History
Although the first world, as seen through the lens of academia, seems to be prospering, and the third world has found its own place in the postcolonial intellectual order, the post-cold war world of semi-peripheries in East and Central... more
Although the first world, as seen through the lens of academia, seems to be prospering, and the third world has found its own place in the postcolonial intellectual order, the post-cold war world of semi-peripheries in East and Central Europe (ECE) has largely disappeared from the discourse of Comparative Literature. It sometimes appears as a convenient intellectual counterpoint or is included in postmodernist or postcolonial narratives; in both cases, however, it doesn’t convey regional specificity or allow local voices to speak. Both strategies – core and postcolonial – expropriate the semi-peripheral realm of second-world non-places.
Research Interests: Philology, Intellectual History, World Literatures, Comparative Literature, History of Ideas, and 59 moreCzech History, Structuralism (Literary Criticism), Multilingualism, Sociolinguistics, Diasporas, Glocalization, Polish History, Central European history, U.S. Intellectual History, Migrant Literature, Archives, Literary Theory, Diaspora, Czech & Slovak Studies, Exile, Memory Studies, Communication Of Memory In Archives, Libraries And Museums, Polish Literature, Migration Studies, World Literature, Structuralism/Post-Structuralism, Diaspora Studies, Polish Studies, Intellectual and cultural history, Central European Studies, History of philology, Russian Intellectual History, Migrant and Diasporic Literature, Diaspora and transnationalism, Historical sociolinguistics, Exile Literature, Russian Formalism, Comparative literature, Literary theory, Jakobson, Roman, Central and Eastern Europe, Bilingualism and Multilingualism, Slavic Studies, Theory of literature, Core-Periphery, Formalism, Translingualism, Literatura Comparada (Comparative Literature), History of Humanities, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Czeslaw Milosz, CZesław Miłosz, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, Translingual Literature, Slavic Studies, Russian Studies, Literature and Cultural History of Gulag and Political Repressions In URSS; Literature and Culture of Russian Post-revolutionnary Emigration; Theory of Literature, New Philology, The History of Ideas, Multilingual/ Translingual Practices, Roman Jakobson, World Languages and Literatures, History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, World and Comparative Literature, Semi-periphery, Translingual & transcultural practices and activities, and Translingual Theory and Practice
The chapter provides a history of the formative years of Polish structuralism in the interwar period – divided into informal circles in Warsaw and Vilnius, and focuses on second-wave post-war Polish school of structuralism. The changes of... more
The chapter provides a history of the formative years of Polish structuralism in the interwar period – divided into informal circles in Warsaw and Vilnius, and focuses on second-wave post-war Polish school of structuralism. The changes of 1968 placed the Polish structuralism on a new track (communicative variation of structuralism), parallel to but distinct from the emerging poststructuralist paradigm in the global literary discourse. This political situation forced the return to the form of anti-institutional academic institution – circles. Due to the lack of archival evidence (destroyed by wars, exile, etc.), we call our methodology presumptive history.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Comparative Literature, Humanities, History of Ideas, Structuralism (Literary Criticism), and 39 moreSociology of Knowledge, Polish History, Literary Criticism, Literary Stylistics, Central Europe, Central European history, Literary Theory, Polish Literature, Structuralism/Post-Structuralism, Polish Studies, Sociology of Intellectuals, Intellectual and cultural history, Structuralism (Philosophy), Literary History, Central European Studies, Cultural History of Central Europe, Poland, Slavistics, History of knowledge, History of literary study, Comparative literature, Literary theory, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, East-Central European History, Literary studies, Slavic Studies, Theory of literature, Formalism, Literary Theory and Criticism, Polish Interwar History, Polish Language, History of Humanities, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Manfred Kridl, East Central Europe, History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European Studies, and Polish Intellectual History
‘When you are in the family ... you have more rights than when you are asking to join and knocking on the door’, said French President Jacques Chirac in February 2003. It was before the biggest enlargement of the European Community in... more
‘When you are in the family ... you have more rights than when you are asking to join and knocking on the door’, said French President Jacques Chirac in February 2003. It was before the biggest enlargement of the European Community in 2004, and on the discussion stage with other countries, like Romania and Bulgaria. He added: ‘They missed a great opportunity to shut up’. In this paper I provocatively started with this quotation, whereas I would like to focus seriously on ‘semi-peripheral’ viewpoints – especially from Poland, Czech and post-Yugoslav states – of the discussion on European identity. I will examine all concepts going beyond the simplified schemes of Greek-Roman-Christian trinity and I will follow the conviction that semi-peripheral Europe(s) offer(s) a more innovative and creative opinion about Europe itself. The aim of the paper is to provide a survey of East and Central European literature (academic, political, belles-lettres) and to point out the most interesting approaches. In this paper the following intellectuals-migrants will be taken into consideration: Leszek Kołakowski, Krzysztof Pomian, Dubravka Ugrešić and Jan Zielonka, or even pope John Paul II, etc. though, we could find interesting voices from non-emigrants, like e.g. Karol Modzelewski, Břetislav Horyna or Václav Havel, etc. The potential and power of debates from that part of Europe is still great. It is especially visible during the recent crisis. I would argue that semi-peripheral voices could be a potential solution to the contemporary problems of the Old Continent. Moreover, this ‘minor Europe’ can offer courageous solutions in the process of building European community not as an exclusive but inclusive model. This is important in the case of enlargement of European Union or in face of the growing numbers of immigrants. Let’s look back into semi-peripheral histories to find voices of the marginalized and to find new Europe.
Research Interests: European History, Intellectual History, European Studies, History of Ideas, Translation Studies, and 30 moreTransnationalism, Polish History, Central Europe, Central European history, European Union, Post-Socialist Societies, History of International Relations, Polish Studies, European identity, European Union (International Studies), Intellectual and cultural history, History of Consciousness, Central European Studies, Cultural History of Central Europe, Post-Socialism, European intellectual history, Slavistics, Post-Communism, Central and Eastern Europe, Slavic Studies, building a European identity, Core-Periphery, Polish language, literature and culture, Post-Communist Studies, Polish Politics, Slavic Languages and Literatures, European identities, The role of the European Union in the construction of a European identity., History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, and Semi-periphery
Purpose: Poland’s political and economic transformation after 1989 brought the logic of the neoliberal market into the educational system. These changes, however, were far from the real liberal free market and instead relied on... more
Purpose: Poland’s political and economic transformation after 1989 brought the logic of the neoliberal market into the educational system. These changes, however, were far from the real liberal free market and instead relied on bureaucratic and technocratic local-level apparatus as well as supranational supports (the EU). Moreover, instead of enhancing post-socialist education to bring them up to the level of the core territories, this process pushed education out to the (semi?)periphery. The purpose of the text is to present selected examples of alternative non-mainstream models of education.
Design/methodology/purpose: Elements analysed include: non/academic discourses, with particular emphasis on academic texts, media material and public debates concerning the topic in question.
Findings: Two related fields and levels ought to be distinguished: the descriptive level, focused on presenting non-mainstream educational institutions and initiatives, within the socioeconomic context of Poland’s post-socialist transformation; the normative level, with recommendations for policymakers, NGOs and educational activists.
Practical implications: Appreciation of systems parallel and alternative to the neoliberal and technocratic mainstream education system in Poland, with a view to encouraging both policymakers to recognise and develop such initiatives, and members of Polish civil society to create and participate in such forms of education.
Originality/value: Most scholars focus on mainstream education, with a number of exceptions, largely those engaged in the parallel models. This neoliberal model of education is accepted or critically examined, but its technocratic base is not recognised. This text is therefore ground-breaking in that it describes the real mechanisms of the Polish educational system in transition and provides a normative account and recommendations.
Keywords: Polish education, science and higher education, parallel models of education, non-mainstream educational institutions, post-socialist transition/transformation, neoliberalism.
Article Classification: research paper
Design/methodology/purpose: Elements analysed include: non/academic discourses, with particular emphasis on academic texts, media material and public debates concerning the topic in question.
Findings: Two related fields and levels ought to be distinguished: the descriptive level, focused on presenting non-mainstream educational institutions and initiatives, within the socioeconomic context of Poland’s post-socialist transformation; the normative level, with recommendations for policymakers, NGOs and educational activists.
Practical implications: Appreciation of systems parallel and alternative to the neoliberal and technocratic mainstream education system in Poland, with a view to encouraging both policymakers to recognise and develop such initiatives, and members of Polish civil society to create and participate in such forms of education.
Originality/value: Most scholars focus on mainstream education, with a number of exceptions, largely those engaged in the parallel models. This neoliberal model of education is accepted or critically examined, but its technocratic base is not recognised. This text is therefore ground-breaking in that it describes the real mechanisms of the Polish educational system in transition and provides a normative account and recommendations.
Keywords: Polish education, science and higher education, parallel models of education, non-mainstream educational institutions, post-socialist transition/transformation, neoliberalism.
Article Classification: research paper
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Education, Sociology of Education, Alternative Education, Higher Education, and 24 moreCritical Pedagogy, Educational Research, Critical Thinking, Transformation of University Systems, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Education Policy, Neoliberalism, Post-Socialist Societies, Alternative Pedagogy, Polish Studies, Politics Of Education, Post-Socialism, Higher Education Policy, Critical sociology and politics of education, Post-Communism, Alternatives in Education, Polish Education, Post-socialist transformations, Educational studies, Post-Communist Studies, Higer Education, Post-Socialist Transition, Civil Society Development In Post communist States, and Polish Transformation
Research Interests:
Pisanie recenzji prac zespołowych wydaje się pozbawione sensu. Jak bowiem ocenić całość przez pryzmat poszczególnych głosów? W tym kontekście wydania rocznicowe zdają się być szczególnie nieużyteczne, cel upamiętnienia – osoby,... more
Pisanie recenzji prac zespołowych wydaje się pozbawione sensu. Jak bowiem ocenić całość przez pryzmat poszczególnych głosów? W tym kontekście wydania rocznicowe zdają się być szczególnie nieużyteczne, cel upamiętnienia – osoby, wydarzenia, itp. – przysłania jakikolwiek krytyczny, a taki przecież powinien być naukowy, ogląd rzeczywistości. Są jednak wyjątki od tych reguł, a omawiana książka o znaczącym tytule – 'Naukowa wspólnota uczących się. XXX-lecie Letniej Szkoły Młodych Pedagogów przy Komitecie Nauk Pedagogicznych PAN' pod redakcją Ewy Bochno i Alicji Korzenieckiej-Bondar (Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku, Białystok 2016, ss. 545) – do nich się z pewnością zalicza.
Research Interests: Education, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, History of Education, Higher Education, History of higher education, and 11 morePedagogy, History of Universities, History of Scholarship, Scholarship of Learning and Teaching, University, Pedagogia, Educational studies, Scholarship, Higher Education and History of Universties, History of University, and Letnia Szkoła Młodych Pedagogów
Research Interests: World Literatures, Comparative Literature, Literature, Didactics, Literary Criticism, and 18 moreLiterary Theory, World Literature, Learning And Teaching In Higher Education, Didactic Literature, Literature And Language Teaching, Comparative literature, Literary theory, Literary education, Literatura Comparada, Literatura Comparada (Comparative Literature), Teaching Literature, Komparatistik, Didactics of Literature, Literature education, Komparativna knjizevnost, Didáctica de la Lengua y la Literatura, Komparativna Književnost, World Languages and Literatures, and English and Comparative Literature
Artykuł stanowi wprowadzenie w tematykę najnowszego numeru "Litteraria Copernicana". Redaktorzy tomu piszą między innymi: "Komparatystyka naszym zdaniem znajduje się – a przynajmniej powinna się znaleźć – w centrum humanistycznego... more
Artykuł stanowi wprowadzenie w tematykę najnowszego numeru "Litteraria Copernicana". Redaktorzy tomu piszą między innymi: "Komparatystyka naszym zdaniem znajduje się – a przynajmniej powinna się znaleźć – w centrum humanistycznego namysłu, zwłaszcza w dobie globalizacji i internetu, przybierających na sile migracji i wielokulturowości".
Wychodząc od etymologicznego rozumienia „kultury” jako uprawy, od zarówno potocznego, jak rolniczego znaczenia terminu „użytek” oraz pszczelarskiego i prawnego znaczenia „pożytku” redaktorzy zarysowują diagnozę stanu obecnego i perspektyw badań porównawczych. Współczesna komparatystyka nie absolutyzuje już na szczęście ani tego, co lokalne, regionalne, narodowe, ani tego, co uniwersalne czy światowe. Powinna jednak także (a czyni to rzadko) starać się zachować równowagę między poszukiwaniem nowych idei, pól badawczych czy teorii a zakorzenieniem w tradycji humanistyki. Prezentowany tom ma na celu przedstawienie możliwości osiągnięcia takiej równowagi.
Tom „Pożytki z porównania” jest efektem działalności Pracowni Komparatystyki Literacko-Kulturowej, funkcjonującej na Wydziale Filologicznym Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika od 2011 roku. Zgodnie z nazwą pracowni, a wbrew formułowanym z różnych stron obiekcjom, jesteśmy przekonani, że podejście kulturowe czy kulturoznawcze nie musi ani wykorzeniać praktyki literaturoznawczej, ani też unieważniać czy deprecjonować literatury jako takiej. Nastawienie kulturoznawcze otwiera jednak na nowe spojrzenie na literaturę, pozwala włączyć zjawiska literackie w kontekst całej kultury i ujmować je w szerszej niż dotąd perspektywie – jest to atut trudny do przecenienia.
Tom nie jest i nie miał być zwartą propozycją metodologiczną ani manifestem teoretycznym, lecz próbą zebrania różnych głosów wybrzmiewających w przestrzeni porównawczego namysłu nad literaturą i kulturą. Jednak sięganie do tradycji – na przekór tendencjom dominującym obecnie nie tylko w komparatystyce – i zderzanie jej z nowymi kierunkami myślowymi jest oczywiście pewnego rodzaju manifestacją. Dobór tekstów w prezentowanej publikacji wyraża bowiem przeświadczenie, że w dialogu z minionym można wciąż wiele odkryć i że warto trochę spowolnić spiralę zwrotów badawczych i pogoni za nowością, w którą wpadła współczesna humanistyka.
Wychodząc od etymologicznego rozumienia „kultury” jako uprawy, od zarówno potocznego, jak rolniczego znaczenia terminu „użytek” oraz pszczelarskiego i prawnego znaczenia „pożytku” redaktorzy zarysowują diagnozę stanu obecnego i perspektyw badań porównawczych. Współczesna komparatystyka nie absolutyzuje już na szczęście ani tego, co lokalne, regionalne, narodowe, ani tego, co uniwersalne czy światowe. Powinna jednak także (a czyni to rzadko) starać się zachować równowagę między poszukiwaniem nowych idei, pól badawczych czy teorii a zakorzenieniem w tradycji humanistyki. Prezentowany tom ma na celu przedstawienie możliwości osiągnięcia takiej równowagi.
Tom „Pożytki z porównania” jest efektem działalności Pracowni Komparatystyki Literacko-Kulturowej, funkcjonującej na Wydziale Filologicznym Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika od 2011 roku. Zgodnie z nazwą pracowni, a wbrew formułowanym z różnych stron obiekcjom, jesteśmy przekonani, że podejście kulturowe czy kulturoznawcze nie musi ani wykorzeniać praktyki literaturoznawczej, ani też unieważniać czy deprecjonować literatury jako takiej. Nastawienie kulturoznawcze otwiera jednak na nowe spojrzenie na literaturę, pozwala włączyć zjawiska literackie w kontekst całej kultury i ujmować je w szerszej niż dotąd perspektywie – jest to atut trudny do przecenienia.
Tom nie jest i nie miał być zwartą propozycją metodologiczną ani manifestem teoretycznym, lecz próbą zebrania różnych głosów wybrzmiewających w przestrzeni porównawczego namysłu nad literaturą i kulturą. Jednak sięganie do tradycji – na przekór tendencjom dominującym obecnie nie tylko w komparatystyce – i zderzanie jej z nowymi kierunkami myślowymi jest oczywiście pewnego rodzaju manifestacją. Dobór tekstów w prezentowanej publikacji wyraża bowiem przeświadczenie, że w dialogu z minionym można wciąż wiele odkryć i że warto trochę spowolnić spiralę zwrotów badawczych i pogoni za nowością, w którą wpadła współczesna humanistyka.
Research Interests: World Literatures, Comparative Literature, World Literature, Comparative literature, Literary theory, Literatura Comparada (Comparative Literature), and 5 moreKomparatistik, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, Komparativna knjizevnost, Komparativna Književnost, and English and Comparative Literature
Historia życia Manfreda Kridla (1882–1957) mogłaby stanowić kanwę interesującej kulturowej historii intelektualistów pierwszej połowy XX wieku. Postać ta wydaje się dobrze znana, zwłaszcza w środowisku polonistów. Zarazem życie Kridla... more
Historia życia Manfreda Kridla (1882–1957) mogłaby stanowić kanwę interesującej kulturowej historii intelektualistów pierwszej połowy XX wieku. Postać ta wydaje się dobrze znana, zwłaszcza w środowisku polonistów. Zarazem życie Kridla obrosło legendami, jego dzieło jest zapoznane, znaczenie umniejszane, natomiast koleje losu opisywane jedynie wybiórczo. Przypisanie Kridlowi tytułu „mistrza” jest jednak w pełni zasłużone, był bowiem jedną z kluczowych postaci nowoczesnego literaturoznawstwa polskiego (NLP1 ) w okresie międzywojennym, ono zaś na dobre zmieniło naszą humanistykę.
Artykuł prezentuje wiele ciekawych faktów z życia Manfreda Kridla.
Artykuł prezentuje wiele ciekawych faktów z życia Manfreda Kridla.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Structuralism (Literary Criticism), Polish History, Central European history, Literary Theory, and 21 morePolish Literature, Polish Studies, Intellectual and cultural history, Central European Studies, Emigration Research, Poland, Russian Formalism, Structuralism, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, Literary studies, Slavic Studies, Theory of literature, Formalism, Emigration, Polish Interwar History, Polish language, literature and culture, Manfred Kridl, Polish Emigration After 1939, History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, and History of Intellectuals
Abstract: The memory of the battle of Kosovo in 1389 was and still is one of the essential feature of the Serbian identity, influential from the 19th century both on Serbian and South-Slavic cultural memory (presented also in literary... more
Abstract: The memory of the battle of Kosovo in 1389 was and still is one of the essential feature of the Serbian identity, influential from the 19th century both on Serbian and South-Slavic cultural memory (presented also in literary works), as well as on political practice. The thesis of this article is as follows: all texts concerning the topic of the Kosovo field, with the analyzed here crucial ones from the 19th century, are variants of the same myth, not only because they are based on mythical folk tales (epic songs etc.), but rather due to the fact that they re-construct mytho-logic, included in themselves (with reference to formalistic-structuralistic theorizing of V. Propp, C. Lévi-Strauss, E. Leach, but also to social constructivist approach). What is more – and Petar II Njegoš’s The Mountain Wreath is the best example – those texts construct this mytho-logic. That means that they project it back on past events, history, literature etc., and on their interpretations, forcing particular, coherent, mytho-logical frame of reference, which reversibly affect the presence and the future.
Streszczenie: Pamięć o bitwie na Kosowym Polu z 1389 roku była i jest jedną z konstytutywnych cech serbskiej tożsamości, oddziałującą od XIX wieku zarówno na serbską i południowosłowiańską pamięć kulturową (w tym wyrażaną przez dzieła literackie), jak i na praktykę polityczną. Teza tego artykułu jest następująca: wszystkie teksty dotyczące Kosowego Pola, z kluczowymi pochodzącymi z XIX wieku, które poddano tu analizie, są wariantami tego samego mitu, nie tylko dlatego, że opierają się na mitycznych opowieściach ludowych (pieśniach epickich itd.), lecz raczej dlatego, iż re-konstruują zawartą w nich mito-logikę (nawiązując do formalistyczno-strukturalistycznych teoretyzacji W. Proppa, C. Lévi-Straussa, E. Leacha, lecz również do ustaleń społecznego konstruktywizmu). Co więcej – czego dowodzi przykład Górskiego wieńca Petara II Njegoša – wspomniane teksty konstruują ową mito-logikę. To znaczy projektują ją wstecz na minione wydarzenia, historię, literaturę itd., i na ich interpretacje, narzucając określoną, spójną, mito-logiczną ramę odniesienia, która zwrotnie oddziałuje na teraźniejszość i przyszłość.
Streszczenie: Pamięć o bitwie na Kosowym Polu z 1389 roku była i jest jedną z konstytutywnych cech serbskiej tożsamości, oddziałującą od XIX wieku zarówno na serbską i południowosłowiańską pamięć kulturową (w tym wyrażaną przez dzieła literackie), jak i na praktykę polityczną. Teza tego artykułu jest następująca: wszystkie teksty dotyczące Kosowego Pola, z kluczowymi pochodzącymi z XIX wieku, które poddano tu analizie, są wariantami tego samego mitu, nie tylko dlatego, że opierają się na mitycznych opowieściach ludowych (pieśniach epickich itd.), lecz raczej dlatego, iż re-konstruują zawartą w nich mito-logikę (nawiązując do formalistyczno-strukturalistycznych teoretyzacji W. Proppa, C. Lévi-Straussa, E. Leacha, lecz również do ustaleń społecznego konstruktywizmu). Co więcej – czego dowodzi przykład Górskiego wieńca Petara II Njegoša – wspomniane teksty konstruują ową mito-logikę. To znaczy projektują ją wstecz na minione wydarzenia, historię, literaturę itd., i na ich interpretacje, narzucając określoną, spójną, mito-logiczną ramę odniesienia, która zwrotnie oddziałuje na teraźniejszość i przyszłość.
Research Interests: Structuralism (Literary Criticism), Constructivism, Balkan Studies, Balkan History, History and Memory, and 36 moreKosovo, Serbian history, Memory Studies, Social and Collective Memory, Cultural Memory, Balkan Politics, Collective Memory, Structuralism/Post-Structuralism, Social Constructivism, Social Constructionism/ Constructivism, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Northrop Frye, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian literature, Serbian Literature, Post-Structuralism, Comparative Slavic Studies, Structuralism, Serbian Politics, Balkans, Slavic Studies, Edmund Leach, The Balkans, History of the Balkans, Slavic and Balkan Studies, Political Myths, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Vladimir Propp, Serbian Language and Literature, Српска историја (Serbian History), Njegoš, Nationalism In the Balkans, Njegos, Slavonic Literature and Philology, Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp, Battle of Kosovo, and Balkan Studies
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Anthropology, Ethics, Philosophy of Science, Education, and 26 moreHumanities, Social Sciences, Research Methodology, Qualitative methodology, Educational Research, Virtue Ethics, Social and Cultural Anthropology, History of Social Sciences, Reflexivity, Autoethnography, Qualitative Research, Reflexivity (Sociology), Self-Reference, Reflexivity, Reflection, Memoir and Autobiography, Reflexive Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, History and Philosophy of the Human Sciences, Collaborative Autoethnography, Collaborative Autobiograhy, Humanities and Social Sciences, Styles of thought, Philosophy of Social Sciences, History of Humanities, Academic Quality of Work Life, Thought Collectives, and Polish Intellectual History
The original aim of the paper was a review of the three books, which show wider tendency of academic reflection on research and higher education in Poland. Three issues should be underlined: metareflection on academic scholarship,... more
The original aim of the paper was a review of the three books, which show wider tendency of academic reflection on research and higher education in Poland. Three issues should be underlined: metareflection on academic scholarship, institutional and educational dimension of the university, social functioning of science and higher education. In Polish context all those things are related with the question of functioning of the public sector, as well as the private one, in the age of socio-political transformation after the collapse of the communism. This essay is in some way a review. However, it goes beyond descriptive level, and it asks: about legitimacy of such a profiled discerns of the academic reality? about ideological background of such a descriptions? and finally, about consequences of those projects (which – it should be emphasized – is not noticed by the authors of the books under discussion)? The following books will be taken into consideration: Anna Drapińskia, Zarządzanie relacjami na rynku usług edukacyjnych szkół wyższych, Tadeusz Wawak ed., Wyzwania zarządzania jakością w szkołach wyższych and Andrzej Rozmus and Stanisław Waltoś, eds., Kariera naukowa w Polsce. Warunki prawne, społeczne i ekonomiczne. In this essay I underlined traps of neoliberal logic of the market, which mentioned academics accept without any serious doubts, without noticing dangers to the institution of the public good, such as university. What is more, there is another side and source of those dangers for contemporary university, and they are totally unrecognized, that is bureaucratic and technocratic logic, which capture increasingly parts of academy. Hence, all those issues are situated in the core-(semi)peripheral scheme, that is based on the world(-)system theories approach. As a consequence we can observe that Polish universities are not on the straight way to the core/center, but rather in opposite direction – to the peripheries.
Research Interests: Higher Education, Postsocialism, Transformation of University Systems, History of Universities, Polish Studies, and 15 moreGlobalization And Higher Education, Higher Education Management, Higher Education Studies, Higher Education Policy, Poland, Neoliberalisms and the Transformation of the Cultural Sphere, Academia, Internationalization of higher education, University, Post-socialist transformations, Academy, Postsocialist Societies, Universities, Sociology of Higher Education, and Postsocialist Cultural Studies
Ethical and Moral Aspects of the ‘Humanities’ Practices’
Research Interests: Ethics, Normative Ethics, Humanities, Research Ethics, Public Understanding Of Science, and 23 moreAutobiography, Professional Ethics, Biography, Moral Philosophy, Public Understanding of Science (Education), Autobiographical Theory, Autobiographical Self-Representation, Moral and Political Philosophy, Public Engagement, Moral, Social Sciences and Humanities, Research practices in the humanities, Ethnographic & autoethnographic research, Humanities and Social Sciences, Life Story; Biographic Narrative Research, History of Humanities, The Rhetoric of Confession, Autobiography, Self-Portraiture and the Construction of the Self, Autobiography and life writing studies, Humanities and Social Science, Biographies, Autobiographies and Life Histories, Impact of Social Sciences and Humanities, Icons and Rituals: Sacred Biography, Pilgrimage and Sacred Spaces, and Autoetnography
Human, Life, and Death in the Context of Ethical and Moral Aspects of the ‘Humanities’ Practices
Research Interests: Sociology, Anthropology, Ethics, Philosophy of Science, Humanities, and 21 moreSocial Anthropology, Languages and Linguistics, Ethnography, Research Ethics, Sociology of Knowledge, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Autoethnography, Autobiography, Professional Ethics, Sociology of Ethics and Morality, Linguistics, Moral Philosophy, Cultural Anthropology, Autobiographical Self-Representation, Moral and Political Philosophy, Ethnographic & autoethnographic research, Humanities and Social Sciences, Autobiography and life writing studies, Renato Rosaldo, Death of Languages, and Autobiografia linguistica
Poland, from the United States’ perspective, is the matter of Eastern Europe, while for Western Europe it constitutes eastern borders of European Union. In turn, Polish neighbors – the Czechs (J. Kroutvor, M. Kundera, J. Křen, etc.) – are... more
Poland, from the United States’ perspective, is the matter of Eastern Europe, while for Western Europe it constitutes eastern borders of European Union. In turn, Polish neighbors – the Czechs (J. Kroutvor, M. Kundera, J. Křen, etc.) – are attached to the concept of Central Europe, what in the 1980s and 1990s found many followers in Poland. However, at present, the opinion that Poland is situated in East-Central Europe predominates in this country. All these terms bear various traditions and evoke different connections. Firstly, the objective of this paper is to show in what manner Central and East-Central Europe is perceived in Poland, secondly – to point at cultural and historical background and socio-political meaning of particular ideas. Since all these notions are casual and conditioned both politically and historically, and they also correspond with affairs of certain political, business and academic groups. What is more, ideas hidden behind these notions are intellectual constructs and as such they are often subjected to manipulations. In this context there are at least two pivotal questions: how these heritages form the present Polish identity? What kind of author’s strategies of contriving the problems mentioned above are possible? In the paper I will take into consideration different discourses in comparison, among the others historical/historiographical (Halecki, Kłoczowski, Wandycz, Piotrowski), cultural “activists” or “the practitioners of ideas” (Giedroyć, Czyżewski) and writers (Miłosz, Stasiuk). The paper is extension of my recent book Europa w dyskursie polskim, czeskim i chorwackim. Rekonfiguracje krytyczne [Europe in Polish, Czech and Croatian Discourse. Critical Reconfigurations, Toruń 2011] where I focus on transnational dimensions of the category of “Europe”, whereas herein I would like to take a step backwards to the Polish context, but with a deeper interpretation in junction with the problem of identity in the society in transition.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Eastern European Studies, European Studies, Eastern Europe, Polish History, and 15 moreCentral Europe, Central European history, Eastern European history, Polish Studies, Central European Studies, Cultural History of Central Europe, Poland, Slavistics, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, East-Central European History, Slavic Studies, Slavic Languages and Literatures, East-Central Europe, and Comparative Slavic Literatures
Review of Eric Hayot's "On Literary Worlds", Oxford University Press 2012
Research Interests: World Literatures, Comparative Literature, Literary Theory, Modernist Literature (Literary Modernism), World Literature, and 7 moreModernism, Comparative literature, Literary theory, Theory of literature, Literary Theory and Criticism, Literatura Comparada (Comparative Literature), Eric Hayot, and English and Comparative Literature
Reception of the Dionýz Ďurišin‘s Concept of "Interliterarity" in Poland.
Research Interests: World Literatures, Comparative Literature, Polish History, Literary Theory, Czech & Slovak Studies, and 12 morePolish Literature, World Literature, Polish Studies, Comparative literature, Literary theory, Central and Eastern Europe, Slavic Studies, Theory of literature, Literatura Comparada (Comparative Literature), Slovak Literature, Komparatistik, Slavic Languages and Literatures, and Dionýz Ďurišin
Research Interests: Intellectual History, U.S. Intellectual History, History of Universities, Migration Studies, Early Postwar (1945-1950), and 10 moreMigration History, Intellectual and cultural history, Emigration Research, European intellectual history, Postwar America, Postwar reconstruction, Polish emigration, Postwar Poland, Postwar Relief, and Postwar Europe
This paper will take as its starting point the history of Manfred Kridl and the interwar Polish formalist-structuralist school. This school, like many others, fell apart in the aftermath of the WWII and communist domination. However,... more
This paper will take as its starting point the history of Manfred Kridl and the interwar Polish formalist-structuralist school. This school, like many others, fell apart in the aftermath of the WWII and communist domination. However, academic career of Manfred Kridl in Poland consisted of two stages. The first period, till 1932, was interrupted by World War I, working in high schools and part-time at the university in Poland, and four years’ episode in Brussels, was characterized by classic, traditional literary studies from before antipositivist turn, while his activity focused on editorship of works of Polish classics and writing handbooks and textbooks on history of Polish literature. The second period, years 1932-1939/40 was connected with taking the Chair of Polish Studies at Vilnius University and assembling a group of young, talented people form Vilnius, Warsaw and Poznań, who introduced new fashion – modern, post- and antipositivistic literary studies based on Russian formalism and Czech structuralism. It was fundamental novum, change in Polish academic market, while Kirdl became a coryphaeus of new methodological revolution and theoretical turn. He was unquestionable leader of that group. It ought to be remembered that – on the one hand – Kridl was over 50 years old, on the other –the revolution he stared did not complete. That is why I used in the title of the paper the phrase “the turn accomplished not-fulfilled”. There were a lot of reasons, but the main one was the outbreak of war. Moreover, Kridl did not know Russian language, he got to know formalists theory from discussions and reviews of his students or from few translations into Polish. His own work focused on development of integral method (it was his own name for Polish formalist school) and application it to Polish literature. Hence, in this article I used Actor-Network Theory methodological principle to follow the actors, that is why I am taking into consideration a variety of them, among the others: development of railways, perfectly functioning post office, radio as one of the methods of propagating a new theoretical framework, but also more standard, like: publishing books and texts in journals, academic conferences and seminars (e.g. seminar as a laboratory), etc. I rely on archival sources and documents, following the ideas of archival turn and culturalistic non-classical history of humanities and science. In conclusion there are presented (1) post-war fates of Kridl and the other characters of this story, very often extremely tragic, and (2) a few remarks (a kind of cultural fiction) on possibilities of fulfillment of this turn in Polish literary studies in the 1940s and consequence of such a hypothetic situation for whole humanities.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Comparative Literature, Philosophy of Science, Sociology of Knowledge, Actor Network Theory, and 15 morePolish History, History of Science, Literary Theory, Second World War, Polish Literature, Social History, Early Postwar (1945-1950), Polish Studies, Sociology of Intellectuals, Intellectual and cultural history, Actor-Network-Theory, European intellectual history, Polish Interwar History, History of Humanities, and Manfred Kridl
This is a story of typhus, lice, cages, feeders in the scenery of Lviv (present in western Ukraine) during WWII. Herein I take into consideration Bruno Latour guideline, that one of the most important methodological principle of... more
This is a story of typhus, lice, cages, feeders in the scenery of Lviv (present in western Ukraine) during WWII. Herein I take into consideration Bruno Latour guideline, that one of the most important methodological principle of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) is following the actors, both human and non-human. However, we should be conscious that such a story is usually focused on the role of Rudolf Weigl (called Polish Oskar Schindler), a biologist and inventor of the vaccine for epidemic typhus, who leads institute in Lviv in that time, and saved a great number of intellectuals, Jews, Polish resistance soldiers, etc., against Nazi Germans and Soviet Russians (among the others, we should mentioned Ludwik Fleck, Zbigniew Herbert, Stefan Banach, etc.). Hence, in this detailed description I am trying to follow all actors of that story, especially in the Weigl’s laboratory. As a conclusion of the text, it should be underlined, that in perspective presented here ANT is only a complementation of humanistic perspective, not totally different field of interests. That is why this article could not be treated as an “orthodox” Latourian approach, but rather one of the voices in the discussion about non-anthropocentric knowledge (I would rather say: not-only-anthropocentric knowledge).
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Medical Sociology, Philosophy of Science, Sociology of Knowledge, Actor Network Theory, and 10 moreAnthropology of Knowledge, History of Science, Sociology Of Scientific Knowledge, Second World War, Sociology of Science, Intellectual and cultural history, Actor-Network-Theory, European intellectual history, Rudolf Weigl, and Non-Anthropocentric Knowledge
Research Interests: Intellectual History, European Studies, Comparative Literature, Balkan Studies, History and Memory, and 29 morePostsocialism, Yugoslavia, Croatian History, Modern Croatian Literature, Feminism, Memory Studies, Social and Collective Memory, Cultural Memory, Collective Memory, Yugoslav Literature, Central European Studies, Cultural History of Central Europe, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian literature, Post-Communism, Former Yugoslavia, Nostalgia, Central and Eastern Europe, Memory, Yugonostalgia, Nostalgia and Memory, Post-Communist Studies, Miroslav Krleza, Yugoslavian wars of secession, Dubravka Ugresic, Croatian Language and Literature, Predrag Matvejević, Slavenka Drakulić, Andrea Zlatar, and Vedrana Rudan
Research Interests: Intellectual History, European Studies, Czech History, Historiography, Central Europe, and 17 moreCentral European history, Czech & Slovak Studies, Theory of History, Czech Literature, Central European Studies, Cultural History of Central Europe, History of Historiography, Jan Patocka, European intellectual history, Milan Kundera, Ideology and historiography, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, East-Central European History, Jan Patočka, History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, and Thomas G. Masaryk
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Comparative Literature, Ukrainian Studies, Polish Literature, Czech Literature, and 12 morePolish Studies, Central European Studies, Cultural History of Central Europe, Milan Kundera, Ukrainian Literature, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, Ukraine Literature, Andruchowycz, East Central Europe, Central and Eastern European Studies, and Andrzej Stasiuk
The goal of the paper is to present Russia-Bear in modern Czech and Slovak culture emphasizing journalism, caricature and political discourse. First part of the text refers to history of Czech-Slovak-Russian mutual relationships, in... more
The goal of the paper is to present Russia-Bear in modern Czech and Slovak culture emphasizing journalism, caricature and political discourse. First part of the text refers to history of Czech-Slovak-Russian mutual relationships, in particular since 19th century until 21st century. Next passages describe analyses and interpretations of main metaphors and using the image of Russia-Bear in cultures of Slovakia and Czech Republic after 1989. The article is completed with conclusions coming down, among others, to the following points: [1] Russia-Bear is frequently invoked in modern cultures of both countries, although the image has not its origin in these cultures, but is a borrowing – first of all – from the West; [2] the metaphor’s purpose is to generate negative connotations, indicate threat from Russian part, sometimes it is a picture of Bear-the giant on clay feet; [3] there are very few texts in which the picture of Russia-Bear is directed at evoking positive associations and it appears mainly in travel discourses, when Russia becomes the land of bear and vodka and at times it is linked with winter, cold, Arctic, ice and polar bears. Invoking the metaphor of Russia-Bear the authors refer to animal depictions being symbols of other countries: Czech Republic – a lion; the USA – an eagle or China – a dragon. Summing up it should be remarked that Russia-Bear is a relatively new metaphor in Czech and Slovak discourse, being more commonly used only after 1989.
Research Interests: Eastern European Studies, Russian Studies, Eastern Europe, Czech History, Central Europe, and 16 moreCzech & Slovak Studies, Czech Literature/Czech Culture/Language, Central European Studies, Czech Republic, Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, Slavic Studies, Czech politics, Slavic Philology, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Slovakia, Slovakia politics, Central and Eastern European Studies, Transition in Central and Eastern Europe, Slovak Political Thought, and Russia as the Bear
Report from the conference "Political Exile from Central and Eastern Europe. Motives, Strategies, Activities and Perceptions of East and West, 1945-1989', Bratislava, November 19-20 2013.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Eastern European Studies, History of Ideas, Eastern Europe, Czech History, and 40 morePolish History, Cold War and Culture, Migration, Cold War, Ukrainian Studies, Central Europe, Central European history, Eastern European history, Political History, Croatian History, Czech & Slovak Studies, Exile, History of Hungary, Hungarian Studies, Migration Studies, Polish Studies, Intellectual and cultural history, Czech Literature/Czech Culture/Language, Central European Studies, Ukraine (History), Emigration Research, 20th Century, Poland, Cold War history, Central and Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Central European Dissidence, Slavic Studies, Anti-communism, History of Political Ideas, History of Czechoslovakia, history of Poland, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Slovakia, Radio Free Europe, Croatian Studies, History of Slovakia, Political Migrations and Exile, Cold War politics, and History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe
The article concentrates on describing paradigms in Central-European literature and literary science after 1989, with particular stress put on predominant language of these literatures reading: postmodernism and post-colonialism, as well... more
The article concentrates on describing paradigms in Central-European literature and literary science after 1989, with particular stress put on predominant language of these literatures reading: postmodernism and post-colonialism, as well as less present and weakly conceptualised ones, such as transformation or post-communism. The attention is turned to Central-European literary studies’ indulgence in fashions transplanted from the West, with simultaneous negligence for local theoretical, methodological or interpretative traditions. The starting point includes theoretical and terminological speculations, deriving inspirations from literary and cultural studies, cultural anthropology, sociology or political science. The following theoretical conclusions and methodological guidelines are formed as the summary: (1) non-dogmatic glocalization instead of neo-colonial in fact and imposed globalization patterns, (2) the point is to use local scientific traditions for describing Central-European literatures after 1989, (3) taking into account introducing localized and adequate terminological solutions, (4) in other words, implementing localized theory.
Research Interests: Comparative Literature, Postcolonial Studies, Glocalization, Central Europe, Literary Theory, and 28 moreComparative Cultural Studies, Czech & Slovak Studies, Postmodernism, Globalization And Postcolonial Studies, Post-Socialist Societies, Polish Literature, Central European Literature, Czech Literature, Postcolonial Theory, Globalization and Glocalization, Polish Studies, Czech Literature/Czech Culture/Language, Central European Studies, Post-Socialism, Comparative Study, Postmodernism (Literature), Postmodern Literature, Postmodern Literary Theory and Popular Culture, Post-Communism, Comparative literature, Literary theory, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, Theory of literature, Post-Communist Studies, Democratic Transitions, Glocalisation, Postcolonialism, and Transition in Central and Eastern Europe
The article indicates principal elements of Polish discourse concerning the Prague Spring 1968, observed from the perspective of fortieth anniversary of those events. The remarks are preceded by placing these events in theoretical... more
The article indicates principal elements of Polish discourse concerning the Prague Spring 1968, observed from the perspective of fortieth anniversary of those events. The remarks are preceded by placing these events in theoretical framework of glocalization, i.e. locating the events of global transformations of 1968. The text was based on two perspectives. The first one concerns individual oral history describing experience of Poles involved in various ways in Czechoslovakia of 1968 and a certain Central European ironical history which resulted from it in the following decades. These quoted stories are the starting point for the diagnosis of Polish-Czech-Slovak relationships. The other perspective refers to official discourse: political, medial and scientific – Polish opinions of 1968 in Czechoslovakia on the occasions of various anniversaries. The problems pointed out included: reconstruction of historical events with particular attention turned to self-immolation of Ryszard Siwiec in 1968 as a dramatic protest against military invasion of Warsaw Pact in Czechoslovakia (what is of course significant from the point of view of the act of self-immolation by Jan Palach and next ‘living torches’ in Czech Republic in the following year) or the question of ‘revolt topography’ with occasional publications and exhibitions depicting those facts. However, the analysis of medial discourse demonstrates that this problem was not of a particular concern for the Poles. Local context, e.g.: history of the Warsaw Uprising and founding its museum, events in Georgia (fights with Russian army and Lech Kaczyński’s involvement) and the Olympic Games in Beijing in August 2008 turned out to be more significant. Therefore, Polish un/awareness concerning the events in Czechoslovakia in 1968 is rather selective and full of gaps, while matching anniversary discourse with Czech remembrance of Polish events (including self-immolation of Siwiec) can not be comparable at all. It is difficult to find any symmetry in this matter.
Research Interests: Czech History, Glocalization, History and Memory, Czech, Central Europe, and 25 moreCentral European history, Oral history, Czech & Slovak Studies, Memory Studies, Social and Collective Memory, Cultural Memory, Czech Literature, Collective Memory, Globalization and Glocalization, Czech Literature/Czech Culture/Language, Central European Studies, Czech Republic, Central and Eastern Europe, 1968, Oral History and Memory, History of Socialism, Contemporary History of Eastern Europe, esp. Czechoslovakia, History of Czechoslovakia, Prague Spring, Pražské Jaro, Rok 1968, 1968 in Europe, Glocalisation, History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, Transition in Central and Eastern Europe, and Czechoslovakian Intervention
The article concerns the first thirteen years after the disintegration of Czechoslovakian Federation into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in 1993, seen with Polish eyes. Three general aspects were of the author’s main... more
The article concerns the first thirteen years after the disintegration of Czechoslovakian Federation into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in 1993, seen with Polish eyes. Three general aspects were of the author’s main interest: (1) the Visegrad Group, which turned out to be post-dissident myth, whereas its functionality and political agency seems to leave much to be desired, in particular in the light of joining European Union by the Group states; (2) the categories of Central Europe and (3) Central-Eastern Europe. Points (2) and (3) are interdependent and related. Despite popularity of Central Europe category among Poles (mainly among writers and scholars), contrary to Czech Republic or Slovakia, where it has its key position in defining their own regional identity, in case of Poland the following years of transformation brought predominance of Central-Eastern Europe category, which – due to its Eastern face – is not to be accepted for Czechs and Slovaks. The summary discusses weak points in cultural exchange between these states, limited mutual interest, with one exception – which is Polish fascination in Czech culture (but not Slovak one).
Research Interests: Czech History, Czech, Central Europe, Central European history, Czech & Slovak Studies, and 18 moreCzech Literature, Central European Studies, Cultural History of Central Europe, Czech Republic, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, East-Central European History, Slavic Studies, History of Czechoslovakia, Visegrad Group, Democratic Transitions, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Visegrad cooperation, East Central Europe, History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, Central and Eastern European Studies, Visegrad Group States, and Transition in Central and Eastern Europe
The article presents analyses of modern Polish thought of Slavophile direction, i.e. - quoting Andrzej de Lazari – referring to Slavophile traditions, not being, however, its classical version. Four standpoints of Slavophile character... more
The article presents analyses of modern Polish thought of Slavophile direction, i.e. - quoting Andrzej de Lazari – referring to Slavophile traditions, not being, however, its classical version. Four standpoints of Slavophile character were distinguished: (1) strictly political in programs of parties like: the League of Polish Families and its youth wing – All-Polish Youth, Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland, which parties played significant role in Polish political life in 20th and 21st c. Even though they make impression of being anti-Russian parties, the analysis of their programs and their political leaders’ public speeches does not let us make this kind of conclusions, on the contrary – it locates them just in the camp of Slavophile formations. Similar situation is observed in case of right-wing, Catholic, conservative and very influential radio station - Radio Maryja, in which program voices of Slavophile character can be heard. The article concentrates of the problems listed above, but also touches three kinds of Slavophile thinking, present in Poland. These are: (2) „Integral traditionalism” with neo-pagan tone; (3) Cultural Slavophilia and Russophilia; (4) Slavophilia of widely perceived Slavicists and this branch specialists expressed in scientific discourse.
Research Interests: Eastern European Studies, Russian Studies, Polish History, Polish Studies, Slavistics, and 17 moreRussia, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, Polish Political Thought, Slavic Studies, Slavophiles, Russian and Slavonic Studies, Polish Politics, Polish Media, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Radio Maryja, History of Polish Political Thought, Panslavism, Slavophilism, Central and Eastern European Studies, Transition in Central and Eastern Europe, and Panslavizam
Theoretical movements, interpretative paradigms and intellectual fashions have been widely introduced to Poland (feminism, postcolonial studies, etc.), rarely (g)localized, but without a good understanding of the real consequences of... more
Theoretical movements, interpretative paradigms and intellectual fashions have been widely introduced to Poland (feminism, postcolonial studies, etc.), rarely (g)localized, but without a good understanding of the real consequences of embracing those cultural models. In literary studies, the main obstacle preventing the fulfillment of the paradigm shift is the exclusion of poetics from those new trends, while its development should follow the adoption of a given theory. The article shows a complex character of the absence of poetics (in plural, reflecting a variety of theories), on the one hand, and the persistence and appeal of the structural poetic (singular; even in the situation when the structuralistic theory is not used). The present situation can be seen as an inflation of pure theorizations and a deflation of the development of possible tools in text analysis.
Research Interests:
The main aim of the article is to propose a new version of sociology of literature under the name of ANT-ology of literature. In the first part of the text I sketch a map of modern controversies on status and situation of literature and... more
The main aim of the article is to propose a new version of sociology of literature under the name of ANT-ology of literature. In the first part of the text I sketch a map of modern controversies on status and situation of literature and literary studies in contemporary world. I underline the fact that descriptions of this situation proposed by literary and academic establishment is always critical and that in fact this diagnosis are presented from conservative point of view. Afterward I discuss classical approaches of sociology of literature starting in 19th century till present-day and cultural sociology of literature connected with cultural turn in humanities and social sciences. However, I underline that all those approaches are anthropo- and textocentric. Hence, the crucial is the last part of the article. I argue on the necessity of application of Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory into the literary studies and I describe possible advantages of ANT-ology of literature. If we take seriously into consideration the ideas of human and nonhuman actors, collective instead of society, abandon the “context”, focus on empiric and case studies, and if we will follow the actors, etc., presented version of literary studies will be entirely different – redefined and renewed.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
While I. Wallerstein’s world-system theory (W-ST) is frequently referred to in literary studies (see: Moretti; Casanova; and Liu, Robbins & Tanoukhi) and cultural studies (King), A.G. Frank’s notion of world system (without hyphen) is not... more
While I. Wallerstein’s world-system theory (W-ST) is frequently referred to in literary studies (see: Moretti; Casanova; and Liu, Robbins & Tanoukhi) and cultural studies (King), A.G. Frank’s notion of world system (without hyphen) is not used in comparative literature. However, the two approaches are not competitive, but rather complementary. The article explores the applications of W(-)ST to comparative literature and studies.
Research Interests:
The aim of the paper is comparison of the process of development of cultural anthropology and comparative studies in the perspective of post-war anthropologization of whole humanities and social science. It ought to be emphasized, that... more
The aim of the paper is comparison of the process of development of cultural anthropology and comparative studies in the perspective of post-war anthropologization of whole humanities and social science. It ought to be emphasized, that this proposition is different from Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek or Michael Riffaterre’s complementarity of comparative literature and cultural studies, cultural theory or cultural critique. Afterward I underline some of the key issues of cultural anthropology, and their application into the comparative literature. Among the others, I analyzed in this article three of them: (1) Practice shows that intercultural communication is possible and effective. In philosophy I would defend the idea of “internal realism” or “pragmatic realism”, or – in different terms – “intentional rationality” (Michał Buchowski). In this approach people act in accordance with the norms, and convictions, beliefs shared in their community (like in Jerzy Kmita’definition of culture). Ergo: all cultures are rational in their own perspective. Based on this issue we could rethink the idea of intercultural translation (borrowed from Stanley Tambiah and supported by Hilary Putnam), and combine those topics with the paradigm central for current comparative literature. (2) Moreover, in this article I presented transformation from Goethe’s idea of ‘Weltliterature’ to David Damrosch’s world literature and the consequences of that process from the perspective of anthropologization of comparative studies. (3) Finally, I combine this approaches with globalization in the gaze of cultural anthropology (especially questions of relativism, multiculturalism, acculturation, intercultural exchange, etc.), and the possible (not only academic but also social) role of comparative literature in (post)modern world.
Research Interests:
The transformation of literary studies and consolidation with cultural studies is forgone. It is connected with domination of cultural studies in (post)modern humanities. It is usually receipt as a danger for e.g. comparative literature.... more
The transformation of literary studies and consolidation with cultural studies is forgone. It is connected with domination of cultural studies in (post)modern humanities. It is usually receipt as a danger for e.g. comparative literature. However, the aim of the paper is different. Herein I argue that this situation should not be noticed as a competition between comparative and cultural studies, and – as a consequence – loss of identity in literary studies. In presented paper I argue for a new project of such a consolidated studies, what is – in my opinion – especially important in the context of East and Central Europe. The starting point is culturalistic and constructivistic Jerzy Kmita's social-regulatory concept of culture (social-reputational theory of culture) supported by Stanley Fish's idea of interpretive communities, where culture is understood as a mental reality. Then, I focused on the issue of anthropologization of humanities, especially literary studies, and closely connected with that problem of intercultural translation. The key concept in presented herein idea is the category of intentional rationality (Michał Buchowski). In the final part of the paper I discuss those matters in the comparison to the recent reinterpretation of the world literature (e.g. by David Damrosch). As a conclusion it should be underline the necessity of reshaping and reinterpretation of comparative studies theory, which should go beyond – on the one hand – cultural studies, on the other – futile debate between local and global perspective, towards the idea of glocalization of theory.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, World Literatures, Comparative Literature, Translation Studies, Glocalization, and 11 moreConstructivism, Literary Criticism, Cultural Theory, Literary Theory, Globalization and Glocalization, World Literature, Social Constructionism/ Constructivism, Translation, Literary translation, Cultural Glocalization, and Glocalisation
This article is divided into three parts. The first one presents assumption with a few remarks and doubts about definitions of the Balkans, Balkan studies and academic Balkanists. The second part of the text is a precise description – a... more
This article is divided into three parts. The first one presents assumption with a few remarks and doubts about definitions of the Balkans, Balkan studies and academic Balkanists. The second part of the text is a precise description – a case study of the discourse about Croatian bishop Alojzije Stepinac (and in fact whole Catholic Church) and his role during the WWII – positive from Croatian perspective, negative from Serbian. Hence, the aim of the paper is not to establish the truth about Stepinac, but to show the discursive mechanisms, textual practices, rhetorical figures of both stories – Croatian and Serbian. The third part, Conclusions, extend this argumentation on whole humanities and social studies. I underline that humanities are always engaged and will never be as strict as “hard” science. However, it does not mean that “anything goes” in academic research. There are restrictions, but they are different in character, than it is in science. The limits are connected with our own interpretive community, ethical norms, and – we should not forget about that – standards of our academic works.
Research Interests: Discourse Analysis, Critical Discourse Studies, Balkan Studies, Balkan History, Historiography, and 8 moreTextual Criticism, Croatian History, Critical Discourse Analysis, Balkan Politics, History of Central and Southeastern Europe, History of Historiography, Ideology and historiography, and Western Balkans
The article’s objective is to present the image of Russia as it is perceived in the writings of Miroslav Krleža and August Cesarec, and in their mediation in Croatian left–wing circles. It is also intended to be a contribution to... more
The article’s objective is to present the image of Russia as it is perceived in the writings of Miroslav Krleža and August Cesarec, and in their mediation in Croatian left–wing circles. It is also intended to be a contribution to distinguishing two directly related questions: (1) making it possible to draw conclusions concerning the image of Russia in Yugoslavian leftist circles between the two World Wars; (2) adding to the image of Russia issues concerning Croatian culture, including socio–political literature and ideas. [more in attached English summary]
Research Interests: History, Intellectual History, Balkan Studies, Contemporary History, Central European history, and 20 moreYugoslavia, Communism, Croatian History, History of Croatian Literature, Modern Croatian Literature, Left-wing Writers, History of Central and Southeastern Europe, Russian Revolution, Central European Studies, Cultural History of Central Europe, Socialism, Intellectual Disability, Serbian Politics, Western Balkans, History of Communism; Soviet; Post-Soviet; Russia; Eastern Europe, The Image of Russia, Miroslav Krleza, August Cesarec, Communism and national question, and Left Wing Parties
The aim of the paper is to underline the role of interdisciplinary approach in development of literary studies. It is especially important task in the context of Polish (but also the other post-communist East and Central European... more
The aim of the paper is to underline the role of interdisciplinary approach in development of literary studies. It is especially important task in the context of Polish (but also the other post-communist East and Central European countries) humanities. However, in this article I emphasize that “interdisciplinarity” is not only an abstract idea, but we should analyze it in the institutional context of Academy. That is the reason why I am trying to show all positive realizations of interdisciplinary research and possible paths of development of such an approach in the field of literary studies. Moreover, I outline the role of interpretative community (Stanley Fish) for our individual scholar identity, and therefore for our idiosyncratic interpretations. In the final part of the text all institutional restrictions and community limitations are presented, together with proposals and applications to break through all those boundaries.
Research Interests:
In contemporary comparative literature we can observed deconstruction and re-thinking of used categories, e.g. “world literature”. The first aim of the paper is re-thinking of the category of “myth”. Anti-Eurocentric perspective lets us... more
In contemporary comparative literature we can observed deconstruction and re-thinking of used categories, e.g. “world literature”. The first aim of the paper is re-thinking of the category of “myth”. Anti-Eurocentric perspective lets us to re-define this term in the context of comparative studies. The second aim is to emphasized that the “myth” is abused in literary studies. The solution of that problem is deuniversalization and localization of that category. In European tradition, especially in modern times, myth is a kind of literary strategy, therefore in fact it is not a myth (e.g. heroes, not myths, like Don Juan, Faustus, Don Quixote, Lucifer, etc., are just only a literary fictions, fantasies, functioning in literary works as a intertextual references). As a modern myth, we can consider, for example in the Polish context, Katyń Massacre, The Warsaw Uprising or Solidarity Movement, etc. Those myths are existing in modern societies similarly to myths in prehistoric, archaic communities. The myths should be studied in local contexts of each cultures. In non-European cultures the myth is functioning not only in different ways in literary circulation, but very often is outside literature per se, whereas its role in social life could be completely different to Western one. From epistemological point of view – constructivist, anti-essentialist, or like in Chinese tradition relational – universalists approach to myth is not possible, whereas theory of myth is always contingent and local (relationship with ideas of Richard Rorty is legible). In such a perspective myth is functional in specific culture, works in accordance with this culture principles. Hence, if the culture recognizes mythical and mythological explanations as a valid and true, it should be – from intentional rationality point of view – interpreted in such categories. Myths are a part of social reality, even this secular one, and literature can use it as a breading- and back-ground, but will not be a substitution. From non-European point of view it is obvious. Acceptance of anti-Eurocentric perspective allow us to see, what is hidden from our gaze.
Research Interests:
The aim of the paper is – more and more frequent in philosophical writings – comparison of East and West, Confucian and Richard Rorty’s thoughts, especially if we take into consideration mutual relationships between literature and... more
The aim of the paper is – more and more frequent in philosophical writings – comparison of East and West, Confucian and Richard Rorty’s thoughts, especially if we take into consideration mutual relationships between literature and philosophy in (post)modern societies. Moreover, additionally to this base is a conviction that Euro-American culture ought to be transformed in a way to situate useful humanistic values in the center, core of discourse, with which selected ideas and practices from Confucian tradition could help. It is a question of ideas of general institutional and organizational frame and humanistic oriented meritocracy, which both are based on non-orthodox interpretation of left wing’s Confucianism. In conclusion it is a sketch of the project of planetary philosophy, responding to global challenges.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The book under review, by the Polish anthropologist Tomasz Rakowski, focuses on the poverty caused by structural unemployment in contemporary Poland. The main purpose of the book is to rethink the postsocialist transformation and poverty... more
The book under review, by the Polish anthropologist Tomasz Rakowski, focuses on the poverty caused by structural unemployment in contemporary Poland. The main purpose of the book is to rethink the postsocialist transformation and poverty by challenging the mainstream thinking about these issues. Starting from Oscar Lewis’ concept of the “culture of poverty” Rakowski writes about an “anthropological shift of perspective”. People’s complaints and bitterness, commonly presented as symptoms of the lack of “civilizational competence” and the failure to adapt to the new capitalist world in public discourse, are in Rakowski’s view signs of cultural activities and resistance to social exclusion. The “structural helplessness” of the new poor translates, in the anthropological perspective, to the ability to cope with life through the (re)discovery of new skills: picking mushrooms and natural healing herbs, illegal coal mining in the so-called “biedaszyby” (“improvised pits”), hunting, poaching or seasonal work and unofficial temporary migration. His ethnography shows that in spite of the apparent lack of resources and possibilities, unemployed people are able to adapt to new circumstances, create new social networks and different cultural worlds. The culture of poverty is presented not as a lack of culture, or as a negative culture, but rather as a valid culture, different from mainstream society and dominant (also academic) discourse.
Research Interests:
Категории «народа» и «простого народа» в классическом славянофильстве чешском и русском В статье описаны категории «народа» и «простого народа» в славянофильстве чешском и русском. Прежде всего представлена проблема классического... more
Категории «народа» и «простого народа» в классическом славянофильстве чешском и русском
В статье описаны категории «народа» и «простого народа» в славянофильстве чешском и русском. Прежде всего представлена проблема классического славянофильства. Термин этот касается славянофильства первой половины XIX века. Категории «народа» и «простого народа» указаны в разных контекстах. В славянофильстве чешском идея «народа» близко связана с языком. Славянофилы обнаживали настоящий, чистый чешский язык в деревне, среди простого народа. В русском славянофильстве существует двусмысленный термин народ, который обозначает как «народ», так и «простой народ». Однако, в случае русского славянофильства более оправдано говорить о «простом народе».
The Category of “Nation” and “People” in the Russian and the Czech Classical Slavophilism
This paper is devoted mainly to the description of the categories of “nation” and “people” which appear in the Czech and the Russian Slavophilism. First of all, the author considers the problem of the Classical Slavophilism. By this term the Slavophilism of the first part of the 19th century is meant. Consequently, the problem of the categories of “nation” and “people” are presented in a few contexts. In the Czech Slavophilism the idea of “nation” is closely connected with the problem of language. However, the Slavophils find the real, pure Czech language in a Czech village. In the Russian Slavophilism we can find an ambiguous term narod which means “nation” and sometimes “people”. For the Russian Slavophils the narod is identified with the people, the peasantry.
В статье описаны категории «народа» и «простого народа» в славянофильстве чешском и русском. Прежде всего представлена проблема классического славянофильства. Термин этот касается славянофильства первой половины XIX века. Категории «народа» и «простого народа» указаны в разных контекстах. В славянофильстве чешском идея «народа» близко связана с языком. Славянофилы обнаживали настоящий, чистый чешский язык в деревне, среди простого народа. В русском славянофильстве существует двусмысленный термин народ, который обозначает как «народ», так и «простой народ». Однако, в случае русского славянофильства более оправдано говорить о «простом народе».
The Category of “Nation” and “People” in the Russian and the Czech Classical Slavophilism
This paper is devoted mainly to the description of the categories of “nation” and “people” which appear in the Czech and the Russian Slavophilism. First of all, the author considers the problem of the Classical Slavophilism. By this term the Slavophilism of the first part of the 19th century is meant. Consequently, the problem of the categories of “nation” and “people” are presented in a few contexts. In the Czech Slavophilism the idea of “nation” is closely connected with the problem of language. However, the Slavophils find the real, pure Czech language in a Czech village. In the Russian Slavophilism we can find an ambiguous term narod which means “nation” and sometimes “people”. For the Russian Slavophils the narod is identified with the people, the peasantry.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Russian Studies, Russian Literature, Czech History, Russian intelligentsia, and 10 moreCzech & Slovak Studies, Czech Literature, Russian History, Intellectual and cultural history, Czech Literature/Czech Culture/Language, Russian Intellectual History, 19th Century Russian Literature, Slavophiles, Russian and Slavonic Studies, and Slavonic Studies
Poland, from the United States’ perspective, is the matter of East Europe, while for Western Europe it constitutes eastern borders of European Union. In turn, Polish neighbors – the Czechs – are attached to the concept of Central Europe,... more
Poland, from the United States’ perspective, is the matter of East Europe, while for Western Europe it constitutes eastern borders of European Union. In turn, Polish neighbors – the Czechs – are attached to the concept of Central Europe, what in the 80’s. of 20th century found many followers in Poland. However, at present, the opinion that Poland is situated in East-Central Europe predominates in this country. All these terms bear various traditions and evoke different connections. Firstly, the objective of this text is to show in what manner Central and East-Central Europe is perceived in Poland (Oskar Halecki, Jerzy Kłoczowski, Piot Wandycz, Wincenty Lutosławski, and Czech (František Palacký, Karel Havlíček Borovský, Tomaš Garrigue Masaryk, Milan Kundera, Petr Pithart, Jan Křen), secondly – to point at cultural and historical background and socio-political meaning of particular ideas. Since all these notions are casual and conditioned both politically and historically, and they also correspond with affairs of certain political, business and academic groups. What is more, ideas hidden behind these notions are intellectual constructs and as such they are often subjected to manipulations.
Research Interests:
In this article I present a new (in Poland) paradigm in comparative literature based on non-classical currents in contemporary humanities, primarily, on Polish school of cultural studies. In the centre of the project, culturalism and... more
In this article I present a new (in Poland) paradigm in comparative literature based on non-classical currents in contemporary humanities, primarily, on Polish school of cultural studies. In the centre of the project, culturalism and constructivism are situated, as based upon Jerzy Kmita’s social-regulatory concept of culture (social-reputational theory of culture), and as reinforced by Stanley Fish’s idea of interpretive communities. Thus, delineated methodological proposition appears to be a part of a culturalist turn in contemporary humanities. For Kmita culture is a mental reality, but perceived in community not in individual dimension. Herein, culture is a system of norms and convictions, beliefs shared in community in question. What is more, I combine this framework with other approaches: narrative shift, ethical turn in humanities, engaged anthropology and literary studies. Finally, all of those attitudes are “grinded” in neopragmatism oriented towards “anarchistic theory of interpretation” (Andrzej Szahaj’s concept based on the idea of Paul Feyeraband’s “anarchistic theory of knowledge” and Richard Rorty’s philosophy), where aims (also political and ethical) are more important than methodological purity.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Comparative Literature, Literature, Constructivism, Cultural Theory, and 15 moreLiterary Theory, Theory of Interpretations, Comparative Literary Criticism, Comparative literature, Literary theory, Theory of literature, Literatura Comparada (Comparative Literature), NeoPragmatism, Stanley Fish, Komparatistik, Philology/Theory of literature/Literature of foreign countries, Critical Anthropology, Jerzy Kmita, Komparativna Književnost, World and Comparative Literature, and English and Comparative Literature
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Cultural Studies, Eastern European Studies, Comparative Literature, Czech History, and 26 moreCultural Theory, Eastern European history, Literary Theory, Czech & Slovak Studies, Polish Studies, Sociology of Intellectuals, Intellectual and cultural history, Central European Studies, Cultural History of Central Europe, European intellectual history, Comparative Slavic Studies, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, Slavic Studies, Theory of literature, Intelectual History, History of Czechoslovakia, Prague Linguistic Circle, Modern European Intellectual History, History of Lviv, Rudolf Weigl, Manfred Kridl, History of Literary Crticism and Theory, Rene Wellek, Roman Jakobson, and Jan Mukařovský
The aim of the presentation is to blend together what are usually separate academic fields – literary studies, life sciences, mathematics, and logic – within the framework of the informal aspects of scholarly activity. The main claim is... more
The aim of the presentation is to blend together what are usually separate academic fields – literary studies, life sciences, mathematics, and logic – within the framework of the informal aspects of scholarly activity. The main claim is that due to their informal interactions in both the public and the private sphere (cafés, homes, student theater, private seminars, radio studies, wartime " flying universities, " etc.) scholars from different academic fields have blended different modes of domain-specific practice and methodology: e.g., literary scholars used the laboratory model of academic cooperation derived from the life sciences; medicine developed new ways of popularizing academic knowledge (public understating of knowledge) based on humanities activism in the public sphere, etc. However, this is not a story from contemporary academia, but from East and Central Europe during the interwar period and World War II. Dramatis personae: Rudolf Weigl, Ludwik Fleck, Alfred Tarski, Stanisław Ulam, Stefan Banach, Manfred Kridl, etc., with Lwow (Lviv) and Wilno (Vilnius) as the crucial setting for this drama.
Research Interests: History of Science and Technology, History of Mathematics, History of Medicine, Sociology of Knowledge, Actor Network Theory, and 30 morePolish History, History of Science, History of Social Sciences, History of Philosophy of Science, Public Understanding Of Science, Public Sphere, Second World War, Polish Studies, Actor Network Theory (ANT), Actor-Network-Theory, History and Philosophy of the Human Sciences, Alfred Tarski, Knowledge, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, East-Central European History, science and technology studies (STS), Actor-Network Theory, Polish Interwar History, Ludwik Fleck, Public and private spheres, History of Humanities, STS and organizations, History of Lviv, Rudolf Weigl, Manfred Kridl, Vilnius, History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, Central and Eastern European Studies, and STS/ANT
Otwarcie konferencji pt. CEFRiTES: The Common European Framework of Reference in Tertiary EducationSystem – Interpretations and Implementations / Europejski System Opisu Kształcenia Językowego w Szkolnictwie Wyższym – Interpretacje i... more
Otwarcie konferencji pt. CEFRiTES: The Common European Framework of Reference in Tertiary EducationSystem – Interpretations and Implementations / Europejski System Opisu Kształcenia Językowego w Szkolnictwie Wyższym – Interpretacje i Implementacje
Wydział Filologiczny UMK
Wydział Filologiczny UMK
Research Interests: Languages and Linguistics, Arabic Literature, Teaching of Foreign Languages, CEFR, Language Teaching, and 7 moreCEFR-based language testing, CEFR and assessing writing, speaking, grammar and vocabulary, Glottodidattica, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, Arabic Language and Literature, Abu Nuwas, and Glottodidactics. Teaching strategies
Otwarcie VII konferencji z cyklu „Synchronia i diachronia w językach słowiańskich – zbliżenia i dialogi”, pt. „Języki słowiańskie w kontekstach kultur dawnych i współczesnych”
Research Interests: Philology, Languages and Linguistics, Slavic Languages, Slavonic Languages, Polish, and 13 moreLinguistics, Polish Studies, Slavic Historical Linguistics, Regional Studies, Slavic Linguistics, Slavic Studies, Russian and Slavonic Studies, Polish Language, Slavonic Studies, Slavic Philology, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Polish Linguistics, and regional studies eastern Europe
Otwarcie X. Ogólnopolskiej Konferencji Arabistycznej, Wydział Filologiczny UMK, 8 czerwca 2017.
Research Interests:
Missing from the world history perspective is the semi-peripheral – in this particular case, Polish – contribution to this approach. The key figure of such a real world history is (or rather was) the Polish historian Marian Małowist... more
Missing from the world history perspective is the semi-peripheral – in this particular case, Polish – contribution to this approach. The key figure of such a real world history is (or rather was) the Polish historian Marian Małowist (1909-1988), cited by Immanuel Wallerstein as his main inspiration and in fact a founding father (aside from Fernand Braudel) of world-system theory (The Modern XI).
In this paper I will focus on one particularly thing. That is Małowist’s focus on medieval social and economic structures all over the world. For him, the Middle Ages were not only a period in European history, but a set of features pertaining to different cultures and societies in specific stages of development (like renaissances in Jack Goody’s book; see Goody Renaissances). From this perspective, the history of Eastern Europe in the late Middle Ages and Early Modern period, Tamerlane’s empire, Western African countries, etc. is always a history of similar socio-economic structures, with the phenomenon of economic colonization (for Małowist, all of Africa, except Angola, is a case of economic colonization from the fifteenth until nineteenth century; Europa a Afryka 10) responsible for consolidating the old social structures and inhibiting further economic and social development.
In this paper I will focus on one particularly thing. That is Małowist’s focus on medieval social and economic structures all over the world. For him, the Middle Ages were not only a period in European history, but a set of features pertaining to different cultures and societies in specific stages of development (like renaissances in Jack Goody’s book; see Goody Renaissances). From this perspective, the history of Eastern Europe in the late Middle Ages and Early Modern period, Tamerlane’s empire, Western African countries, etc. is always a history of similar socio-economic structures, with the phenomenon of economic colonization (for Małowist, all of Africa, except Angola, is a case of economic colonization from the fifteenth until nineteenth century; Europa a Afryka 10) responsible for consolidating the old social structures and inhibiting further economic and social development.
Research Interests: Eastern European Studies, Russian Studies, History of Ideas, Late Middle Ages, Medieval History, and 32 moreRussian, Medieval Studies, World Systems Analysis, Polish History, History of West Africa, History of Social Sciences, West Africa, Polish, Central European history, Russian History, History of Central and Southeastern Europe, Central European Studies, Russia (History), Cultural History of Russia, Poland, World systems in the ancient and pre-capitalist worlds, Fernand Braudel, Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, World-Systems Analysis, Middle Ages, West African History, history of Poland, World-Systems Theory, Medieval Poland, History of Humanities, Immanuel Wallerstein, Western Africa, World-Systems, Socio Economic Structures, and World System
Filozofia przypisów
Otwarcie konferencji pt. Filozofia przypisów, 18-19 maja 2017 r.
Wydział Filologiczny UMK, Toruń
Otwarcie konferencji pt. Filozofia przypisów, 18-19 maja 2017 r.
Wydział Filologiczny UMK, Toruń
Research Interests:
Świat Piotra Kowalskiego, kronikarza życia
Otwarcie konferencji naukowej, Wydział Filologiczny UMK, 25-26 maja 2017 r.
Otwarcie konferencji naukowej, Wydział Filologiczny UMK, 25-26 maja 2017 r.
Research Interests: Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Folklore, Historical Anthropology, and 16 moreMedia Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Social Anthropology, Media Anthropology, Ethnography, Popular Culture, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Ethnology, Anthropology of Media, Folklore (Literature), Intellectual and cultural history, Popular Literature, Cultural Anthropology, Kulturoznawstwo, Antropologia, and Piotr Kowalski
Otwarcie V Toruńskich Spotkań Miłośników Kultury Czeskiej, Wydział Filologiczny UMK
Research Interests: Czech History, Czech, Central Europe, Central European history, Modernization, and 11 moreCzech & Slovak Studies, Modernity, Czech Literature, Czech Literature/Czech Culture/Language, Central European Studies, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, Modernisation, Czech language, History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, and Karel Havlíček Borovský
Haunted Cultures / Haunting Cultures: Spectres and Spectrality in Cultural Practices. Opening Remarks Haunted Cultures/ Haunting Cultures: Spectres and Spectrality in Cultural Practices Department of English Nicolaus Copernicus... more
Haunted Cultures / Haunting Cultures: Spectres and Spectrality in Cultural Practices. Opening Remarks
Haunted Cultures/ Haunting Cultures:
Spectres and Spectrality in Cultural Practices
Department of English
Nicolaus Copernicus University
22-23 September 2016
Collegium Maius
Fosa Staromiejska 3, Toruń
Haunted Cultures/ Haunting Cultures:
Spectres and Spectrality in Cultural Practices
Department of English
Nicolaus Copernicus University
22-23 September 2016
Collegium Maius
Fosa Staromiejska 3, Toruń
Research Interests:
Między kryzysem a rozwojem Ogólnopolskie Sympozjum Dydaktyków Komparatystyki Program Toruń, 30-31 marca 2016 roku Sala im. Ludwika Kolankowskiego (s. 307) Collegium Maius, Wydział Filologiczny, Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika ul. Fosa... more
Między kryzysem a rozwojem
Ogólnopolskie Sympozjum Dydaktyków Komparatystyki
Program
Toruń, 30-31 marca 2016 roku
Sala im. Ludwika Kolankowskiego (s. 307)
Collegium Maius, Wydział Filologiczny, Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika
ul. Fosa Staromiejska 3, 87-100 Toruń
Ogólnopolskie Sympozjum Dydaktyków Komparatystyki
Program
Toruń, 30-31 marca 2016 roku
Sala im. Ludwika Kolankowskiego (s. 307)
Collegium Maius, Wydział Filologiczny, Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika
ul. Fosa Staromiejska 3, 87-100 Toruń
Research Interests: World Literatures, Comparative Literature, World Literature, Comparative literature, Literary theory, English langauge teaching, comparative literature, and 9 moreLiteratura Comparada (Comparative Literature), Teaching Literature, Teaching of Literature, Komparatistik, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, Teaching of English Language and Literature, Komparativna Književnost, World Languages and Literatures, and English and Comparative Literature
Research Interests: Eastern European Studies, Eastern Europe, South East European Studies, History and Memory, Postsocialism, and 19 moreCentral Europe, East European studies, Central European history, Eastern European history, Memory Studies, Social and Collective Memory, Cultural Memory, Collective Memory, History of Central and Southeastern Europe, Central European Studies, Postcommunist studies, Postcommunism, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, History of Communism; Soviet; Post-Soviet; Russia; Eastern Europe, Anthropology of Socialism and Postsocialism, Postsocialist Cultural Studies, History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, and Transition in Central and Eastern Europe
Celem panelu przygotowywanego na III Zjazd Polskiego Towarzystwa Kulturoznawczego jest próba opisania i zdefiniowania istoty zjawiska, określanego przez nas mianem „emigracyjnej kultury intelektualistów”. Zakładamy, że o ile można – w... more
Celem panelu przygotowywanego na III Zjazd Polskiego Towarzystwa Kulturoznawczego jest próba opisania i zdefiniowania istoty zjawiska, określanego przez nas mianem „emigracyjnej kultury intelektualistów”. Zakładamy, że o ile można – w różnym trybie i odmiennych językach – opisać kulturę intelektualistów jako specyficzny podsystem w kulturze pochodzenia, to sytuacja emigracyjna komplikuje obraz owego podsystemu w punkcie docelowym.
Podstawowe pytania, które chcielibyśmy zatem postawić to:
• Jakie warunki muszą być spełnione, by w kulturze przyjmującej osiągnąć sukces?
• Kiedy język jest/może być barierą w adaptacji do nowych warunków?
• Jakie relacje wiążą emigranta-intelektualistę z: intelektualistami w kraju przyjmującym, własną emigracją, innymi grupami emigracyjnymi, środowiskami krajowymi, itd.?
• Czy można być intelektualistą publicznym (public intellectual) i na jakich zasadach?
Szczególnie zależy nam na zapoznaniu się z rezultatami oryginalnych badań (archiwalnych, wywiadach, itd.), odkrywających nieznane, zapomniane postaci oraz te ukazujące badane zjawiska w perspektywie komparatystycznej. Chcielibyśmy także zachować równowagę między doświadczonymi i młodymi badaczami (doktorantami).
Podstawowe pytania, które chcielibyśmy zatem postawić to:
• Jakie warunki muszą być spełnione, by w kulturze przyjmującej osiągnąć sukces?
• Kiedy język jest/może być barierą w adaptacji do nowych warunków?
• Jakie relacje wiążą emigranta-intelektualistę z: intelektualistami w kraju przyjmującym, własną emigracją, innymi grupami emigracyjnymi, środowiskami krajowymi, itd.?
• Czy można być intelektualistą publicznym (public intellectual) i na jakich zasadach?
Szczególnie zależy nam na zapoznaniu się z rezultatami oryginalnych badań (archiwalnych, wywiadach, itd.), odkrywających nieznane, zapomniane postaci oraz te ukazujące badane zjawiska w perspektywie komparatystycznej. Chcielibyśmy także zachować równowagę między doświadczonymi i młodymi badaczami (doktorantami).
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Cultural Sociology, History of Ideas, and 27 moreCultural Heritage, Polish History, History of Science, Migration, Polish, Labor Migration, Cross-Cultural Studies, International Migration, Polish Literature, Migration Studies, Polish Studies, Sociology of Migration, Transnational migration, Intellectual and cultural history, Polish Migration, Emigration Research, Jewish heritage, Polish-Jewish / German-Jewish Relations, klezmer revival, Jewish heritage tourism, Holocaust commemoration, antisemitism, social identity, oral history, Emigration, Polish Interwar History, Polish language, literature and culture, Migración, Russian emigration, Kulturoznawstwo, Emigracja, Emigracja Z Polski, Studia Kulturowe, and Emigracja pomarcowa
Polskie Stowarzyszenie Komparatystyki Literackiej i Pracownia Komparatystyki Literacko-Kulturowej Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika zapraszają na Trzecią Konferencję PSKL pt. „Między kryzysem a rozwojem. Ogólnopolskie Sympozjum Dydaktyków... more
Polskie Stowarzyszenie Komparatystyki Literackiej i Pracownia Komparatystyki Literacko-Kulturowej Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika zapraszają na Trzecią Konferencję PSKL pt. „Między kryzysem a rozwojem. Ogólnopolskie Sympozjum Dydaktyków Komparatystyki”, która odbędzie się w Toruniu w dniach 30-31 marca 2016 roku (szczegóły w załączniku).
Chcielibyśmy zaprosić Państwa do dyskusji o stanie akademickiej komparatystyki w Polsce. Proponujemy dyskusję nad własnymi doświadczeniami z prowadzenia kierunków czy specjalizacji komparatystycznych, dotyczącymi przede wszystkim ostatnich lat, ale przyjmujemy również głosy skupione na historii dydaktyki komparatystycznej.
Konferencja zostanie połączona z dorocznym Walnym Zebraniem członków PSKL, które odbędzie się 30 marca 2016 roku.
Zgłoszenia prosimy przesyłać do dnia 24 lutego 2016 roku na adres: adamkola [at] umk.pl
Łączę pozdrowienia
Adam Kola
Chcielibyśmy zaprosić Państwa do dyskusji o stanie akademickiej komparatystyki w Polsce. Proponujemy dyskusję nad własnymi doświadczeniami z prowadzenia kierunków czy specjalizacji komparatystycznych, dotyczącymi przede wszystkim ostatnich lat, ale przyjmujemy również głosy skupione na historii dydaktyki komparatystycznej.
Konferencja zostanie połączona z dorocznym Walnym Zebraniem członków PSKL, które odbędzie się 30 marca 2016 roku.
Zgłoszenia prosimy przesyłać do dnia 24 lutego 2016 roku na adres: adamkola [at] umk.pl
Łączę pozdrowienia
Adam Kola
Research Interests: World Literatures, Comparative Literature, World Literature, Comparative literature, Literary theory, Literatura Comparada, and 9 moreLiteratura Comparada (Comparative Literature), Littérature Comparée, Komparatistik, Literature education, Littérature Générale Et Comparée, Komparativna knjizevnost, Komparativna Književnost, сравнительное литературоведение, and English and Comparative Literature
Zapraszamy na XI konferencję naukową z cyklu Colloquia Humaniorum Tematem tegorocznej konferencji uczyniliśmy zapomnianą w dzisiejszej Akademii instytucję intelektualnego Mistrza/mistrza i ściśle z nią powiązaną kategorię „mistrzostwa”.... more
Zapraszamy na XI konferencję naukową z cyklu Colloquia Humaniorum
Tematem tegorocznej konferencji uczyniliśmy zapomnianą w dzisiejszej Akademii instytucję intelektualnego Mistrza/mistrza i ściśle z nią powiązaną kategorię „mistrzostwa”.
Zapowiedzią konferencji było seminarium pt. Mistrzowie. Preliminaria, które odbyło się 12 grudnia 2015 roku w Toruniu (zob. http://forhum.uni.torun.pl/dzialalnosc/mistrzowie_seminarium.htm ) , jego podstawy merytoryczne zostały zaś przedstawione w tekście pt. "Mistrzowie – preliminaria. O założeniach pewnego projektu badawczego" (zob. http://www.czasopismo.naukiowychowaniu.uni.lodz.pl/fulltxt.php?ICID=1198757 ).
Obraliśmy trzy współbieżne ścieżki myślenia/mówienia/pisania o Mistrzach/mistrzach, które stanowić będą szkielet zarówno konferencji w Pluskach, jak i projektowanej książki. Są to: (1) Przykład-anie do teorii; (2) Przykład-anie do świata; (3) Przykład-anie do życia.
Więcej szczegółów na stronie Forum Humanistycznego:
http://forhum.uni.torun.pl/dzialalnosc/mistrzostwo.htm
Serdecznie zapraszamy!
Tematem tegorocznej konferencji uczyniliśmy zapomnianą w dzisiejszej Akademii instytucję intelektualnego Mistrza/mistrza i ściśle z nią powiązaną kategorię „mistrzostwa”.
Zapowiedzią konferencji było seminarium pt. Mistrzowie. Preliminaria, które odbyło się 12 grudnia 2015 roku w Toruniu (zob. http://forhum.uni.torun.pl/dzialalnosc/mistrzowie_seminarium.htm ) , jego podstawy merytoryczne zostały zaś przedstawione w tekście pt. "Mistrzowie – preliminaria. O założeniach pewnego projektu badawczego" (zob. http://www.czasopismo.naukiowychowaniu.uni.lodz.pl/fulltxt.php?ICID=1198757 ).
Obraliśmy trzy współbieżne ścieżki myślenia/mówienia/pisania o Mistrzach/mistrzach, które stanowić będą szkielet zarówno konferencji w Pluskach, jak i projektowanej książki. Są to: (1) Przykład-anie do teorii; (2) Przykład-anie do świata; (3) Przykład-anie do życia.
Więcej szczegółów na stronie Forum Humanistycznego:
http://forhum.uni.torun.pl/dzialalnosc/mistrzostwo.htm
Serdecznie zapraszamy!
Research Interests: Mentoring, History of Science, History of Social Sciences, Autobiography, Sociology Of Scientific Knowledge, and 16 moreBiography, Sociology of Scientific Knowledge (Sociology), Social Studies Of Science, Scientific Biography, Scientific Writing, Tutoring, Academics, Academic Autobiography, History of Humanities, Master, History and Philosophy of Social Sciences, Biographical Research, Biografía académica, Mastery, Autobiographies, and Scholarly Autobiography
Many scholars have turned their attention to a certain boom in memory studies, which in Western Europe became evident during the 80s of the last century, by identifying as causes of this phenomenon above all postmodernism and loosening,... more
Many scholars have turned their attention to a certain boom in memory studies, which in Western Europe became evident during the 80s of the last century, by identifying as causes of this phenomenon above all postmodernism and loosening, if not the general fall, of existing up-to-date paradigms, theories and research concepts. A similar process did take and is taking place also in many countries of Central, Eastern and SouthEastern Europe after the fall of the communist regimes, i.e. after 1989/1991. Nowadays, almost in every renowned scientific journal from the fields of sociology, anthropology or history one can easily find an article or a publication, which is dealing with at least one dimension of memory: social, collective, cultural, historical etc. Other scholars in a more moderated way have pointed out another area, which became the impulse for the booming of research on memory, namely the growing presence and role of commemorative practices in the social and political life. Numerous studies have shown that both accentuated presence of memory in social and political life, as well as reflection on this process are nothing new in the human history, and, hence, postmodernism should not be seen as the only accountable for the memory boom. Yet, the scale of the process is entirely new. From here it's easy to pinpoint a number of reasons for such a strong presence of memory in social life: the general democratization of social life, a multiplicity of actors and social dimensions of their activities, the impact of the audiovisual media of mass communication, and – from already few years now – the dynamic development of social media. When discussing about post-communist Europe another crucial reason has to be taken into account. Namely, one of the main postulates and slogans guiding the post-communist transformation processes was to clean the historical memory from the falsifications imbued in it by the former communist regimes. Aiming to reveal the historical truth was and still remains one of the basic components in the process of building and materializing of transitional justice. For that reason studying the memory of/on communism goes far beyond the frames of " normal " social research, touching upon a larger spectrum of important political, social and cultural problems that the post-communist societies are dealing with.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Eastern European Studies, Politics, Social and Collective Memory, and 10 moreCultural Memory, Collective Memory, Southeastern Europe, Postcommunist studies, Postcommunism, Postcommunist memory, Postcommunism, Eastern Europe, Postcommunist Nostalgia, Postcomunist Cultural Studies, and Postcommunist politics
The collapse of communism in East and Central Europe in 1989 caused a growing interest in the field of (e)migration studies. Before 1989, it was a forbidden and denied topic, limited to the prewar period, mainly – in the Polish case – to... more
The collapse of communism in East and Central Europe in 1989 caused a growing interest in the field of (e)migration studies. Before 1989, it was a forbidden and denied topic, limited to the prewar period, mainly – in the Polish case – to the so-called Great Emigration of the Polish elites from partitioned Poland in the nineteenth century. The history of World War II and postwar emigration were prohibited. Hence, a three-volume work on postwar emigration, written by three Polish historians – Andrzej Friszke, Paweł Machcewicz and Rafał Habielski – was published under the title The Second Great Emigration 1945-1990. Such research on Polish emigration is not only important from the academic point of view and for the expansion of our knowledge of Polish and global history, but also crucial – and we can call this 'social engagement' – in the process of rebuilding Polish identity. It should be underlined that this kind of history reshapes our understanding of what is known as Polish and Slavic studies, going beyond the limits of traditionally understood national philology and national history toward trans-and international connections and networks.
In this presentation I will explore (transatlantic) knowledge transfer during and after World War II with a focus on two particular aspects of the migrations of East and Central European intellectuals: (1) knowledge transfer, (2) the condition of public intellectuals in changing contexts (mainly Roman Jakobson and Manfred Kridl); and (3) the translingualism that occurred in the process (Jakobson, Kridl, but also Józef Wittlin and Czesław Miłosz). The frame of reference is provided by the institutional circumstances and biographies of the migrant intellectuals (literary scholars, linguists, translators and writers; all of them concerned with language) which remain largely forgotten (like Kridl), suppressed, or plainly unknown (the framework for this project, based on archival research, comes from the sociology of intellectual life). The initial stage of my project on knowledge transfer began in 2007 and ended in 2015. During that time I conducted archival research in Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and the United States.
Finally, one more thing should be underlined: if at least the Polish emigration (perhaps this is a general rule) is perceived as conservative (which is easily explained e.g. by nostalgia, etc.), in this paper I will focus on left-wing intellectuals. The main reason for this decision is to restore the lost balance between the right and left-wing part of (Polish) emigration in the description of these internally differentiated groups, and to tell the story of those whose biographies are supposedly familiar, although this part of their activities is not widely known. The tension between shared political aims and the private world-view of each individual is one of the key problems encountered by all migrant communities. In this paper, I would like to concentrate on a minority group of Polish émigrés in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. Most Polish immigrants in this country were rather conservative, with right-wing sympathies, and staunchly Roman Catholic (and so it remains, as witnessed by their voting preferences). Some of them, however, supported the left side of the political scene.
In this presentation I will explore (transatlantic) knowledge transfer during and after World War II with a focus on two particular aspects of the migrations of East and Central European intellectuals: (1) knowledge transfer, (2) the condition of public intellectuals in changing contexts (mainly Roman Jakobson and Manfred Kridl); and (3) the translingualism that occurred in the process (Jakobson, Kridl, but also Józef Wittlin and Czesław Miłosz). The frame of reference is provided by the institutional circumstances and biographies of the migrant intellectuals (literary scholars, linguists, translators and writers; all of them concerned with language) which remain largely forgotten (like Kridl), suppressed, or plainly unknown (the framework for this project, based on archival research, comes from the sociology of intellectual life). The initial stage of my project on knowledge transfer began in 2007 and ended in 2015. During that time I conducted archival research in Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and the United States.
Finally, one more thing should be underlined: if at least the Polish emigration (perhaps this is a general rule) is perceived as conservative (which is easily explained e.g. by nostalgia, etc.), in this paper I will focus on left-wing intellectuals. The main reason for this decision is to restore the lost balance between the right and left-wing part of (Polish) emigration in the description of these internally differentiated groups, and to tell the story of those whose biographies are supposedly familiar, although this part of their activities is not widely known. The tension between shared political aims and the private world-view of each individual is one of the key problems encountered by all migrant communities. In this paper, I would like to concentrate on a minority group of Polish émigrés in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. Most Polish immigrants in this country were rather conservative, with right-wing sympathies, and staunchly Roman Catholic (and so it remains, as witnessed by their voting preferences). Some of them, however, supported the left side of the political scene.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, History of Ideas, Sociology of Knowledge, Polish History, Migration, and 19 moreCentral Europe, Central European history, Communism, Knowledge Transfer, Polish Literature, Migration Studies, Polish Studies, Intellectual and cultural history, Central European Studies, Emigration Research, American Intellectual History, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, History of Communism, Anti-communism, History of Political Ideas, Manfred Kridl, History of the Left, and Polish Emigration After 1939
Huelle, Hrabal and Czech Hip Hop
Research Interests: Comparative Literature, Contemporary Polish Literature, Czech & Slovak Studies, Polish Literature, Czech Literature, and 20 moreHip-Hop/Rap, Polish Studies, Czech Literature/Czech Culture/Language, Czech music, Hip-Hop Studies, Bohumil Hrabal, Comparative literature, Literary theory, Comparative Slavic Studies, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, Slavic Studies, Literatura Comparada (Comparative Literature), Hip hop, Polish language, literature and culture, Hip Hop Culture, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, Central and Eastern European Studies, Transition in Central and Eastern Europe, and Paweł Huelle
"Polish Language at Columbia: History and Functionality” Friday, April 10, 2015, 1-6PM Columbia University International Affairs Building 1512 420 W. 118th Street New York, NY 10027 Please register here:... more
"Polish Language at Columbia: History and Functionality”
Friday, April 10, 2015, 1-6PM
Columbia University
International Affairs Building 1512
420 W. 118th Street
New York, NY 10027
Please register here:
https://calendar.columbia.edu/sundial/webapi/register.php?eventID=77661®ISTER_SESSION_NAME=f3d563ee50bfbac528154b2e413bebcd&state=init
Friday, April 10, 2015, 1-6PM
Columbia University
International Affairs Building 1512
420 W. 118th Street
New York, NY 10027
Please register here:
https://calendar.columbia.edu/sundial/webapi/register.php?eventID=77661®ISTER_SESSION_NAME=f3d563ee50bfbac528154b2e413bebcd&state=init
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Comparative Literature, Languages and Linguistics, Slavic Languages, Sociology of Knowledge, and 27 morePolish History, Exile, Intellectuals, Polish Literature, Migration Studies, Linguistics, Polish Studies, Sociology of Intellectuals, Intellectual and cultural history, Emigration Research, Poland, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, East-Central European History, Literary studies, Slavic Studies, Emigration, Columbia University, history of Poland, Polish Language, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Manfred Kridl, Columbia University scholars (historical study), Polish Emigration After 1939, History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, Central and Eastern European Studies, and Polish Emigre Culture
at: 29 Toruńskie Spotkania Teatrów Jednego Aktora / The 29th One Actor`s Theatre Festival, Toruń, Poland
Teatr Baj Pomorski w Toruniu / Theatre Baj Pomorski in Toruń
21-23.11.2014
Teatr Baj Pomorski w Toruniu / Theatre Baj Pomorski in Toruń
21-23.11.2014
Research Interests:
"National, regional, continental, global: Literatures and discourses on literatures" The editorial board of the Comparative Yearbook, the board of the Polish Comparative Literature Association (Polskie Stowarzyszenie Komparatystyki... more
"National, regional, continental, global: Literatures and discourses on literatures"
The editorial board of the Comparative Yearbook, the board of the Polish
Comparative Literature Association (Polskie Stowarzyszenie Komparatystyki
Literackiej) and the Institute for Polish and Culture Studies of the University
of Szczecin welcome all interested academics to the international conference
that will take place September 27-30, 2014 at the Szczecin University
Conference Center on the Baltic Sea.
The following subjects are planned to be discussed:
Definitions and methodologies
1. Literatures and discourses on literatures – localness vs. globality;
2. Supranational understanding of literature: are regions and continents useful
or troublesome categories?
3. Literatures of the world vs. world literature;
4. The transfer of thoughts, the flow of ideas – theories of comparative literature
and theories of contemporary literary and cultural studies;
5. République mondiale des lettres 15 years later;
6. Multiculturalism and globalization – mechanisms, gains, risks.
Borders, common places, places of exchange
7. Why compare and how to compare: the geopolitics of a comparison (from the
cognitive perspective to the ethical and political perspectives);
8. Political (and cultural) communities and their literatures. Is there a literature
of the European Union? How is it constructed? What happens to the literatures
of non-existing political communities, such as former Yugoslavia?
9. Common ideas, trans-border projects, international research grants – the
institutional possibilities and limitations of conducting research on European
literature;
10. The role of translation in the context of the most recent translation and
comparative studies theories;
11. The voices of “small literatures” – how and when do they become audible?
12. Cultural imperialism – overcome?
13. Translated from… The role of the English language in creating world
literature and knowledge about the literatures of the world;
Writers and their heritage
14. National writers, transnational writers, world writers – the historical variability
of these conceptions;
15. The author belonging to a national literature – a productive or anachronistic
notion?
16. Diasporas and the images of national literatures in the world;
17. Who is the Author in the age of the Internet?
The languages of the conference are Polish and English. Please send your proposal
(written in the language of the planned paper), a short summary (up to 500 words)
and a biographical note by the end of February 2014. We will send notifications of
acceptance along with organizational details by the end of March 2014. Accepted and
externally reviewed papers will be published in the 6th issue of the Comparative
Yearbook (2015). Proposals should be e-mailed to: [email protected]
The editorial board of the Comparative Yearbook, the board of the Polish
Comparative Literature Association (Polskie Stowarzyszenie Komparatystyki
Literackiej) and the Institute for Polish and Culture Studies of the University
of Szczecin welcome all interested academics to the international conference
that will take place September 27-30, 2014 at the Szczecin University
Conference Center on the Baltic Sea.
The following subjects are planned to be discussed:
Definitions and methodologies
1. Literatures and discourses on literatures – localness vs. globality;
2. Supranational understanding of literature: are regions and continents useful
or troublesome categories?
3. Literatures of the world vs. world literature;
4. The transfer of thoughts, the flow of ideas – theories of comparative literature
and theories of contemporary literary and cultural studies;
5. République mondiale des lettres 15 years later;
6. Multiculturalism and globalization – mechanisms, gains, risks.
Borders, common places, places of exchange
7. Why compare and how to compare: the geopolitics of a comparison (from the
cognitive perspective to the ethical and political perspectives);
8. Political (and cultural) communities and their literatures. Is there a literature
of the European Union? How is it constructed? What happens to the literatures
of non-existing political communities, such as former Yugoslavia?
9. Common ideas, trans-border projects, international research grants – the
institutional possibilities and limitations of conducting research on European
literature;
10. The role of translation in the context of the most recent translation and
comparative studies theories;
11. The voices of “small literatures” – how and when do they become audible?
12. Cultural imperialism – overcome?
13. Translated from… The role of the English language in creating world
literature and knowledge about the literatures of the world;
Writers and their heritage
14. National writers, transnational writers, world writers – the historical variability
of these conceptions;
15. The author belonging to a national literature – a productive or anachronistic
notion?
16. Diasporas and the images of national literatures in the world;
17. Who is the Author in the age of the Internet?
The languages of the conference are Polish and English. Please send your proposal
(written in the language of the planned paper), a short summary (up to 500 words)
and a biographical note by the end of February 2014. We will send notifications of
acceptance along with organizational details by the end of March 2014. Accepted and
externally reviewed papers will be published in the 6th issue of the Comparative
Yearbook (2015). Proposals should be e-mailed to: [email protected]
Research Interests: World Literatures, Comparative Literature, Glocalization, Globalization and Glocalization, World Literature, and 14 moreComparative Literary Criticism, Globalization and literature, Comparative literature, Literary theory, Global Literature, Literatura Comparada (Comparative Literature), Comparative Literature, World Literature, Translation and Poetry, Translation Studies,theories of Comparative Literature, Komparatistik, Globalisation and Literature, Comparative literature, postcolonial literatures and literary theory, world literature, contemporary literature, intersections among Latin American and Arabic literatures, liberation movements, and translation studies, Komparativna knjizevnost, Komparativna Književnost, World Languages and Literatures, and World and Comparative Literature
„Western faiths are redemption narratives,” George Steiner claims – and, somehow contradicting himself, he soon adds: “The utopian, messianic, positivist-meliorist ‘futures’ presumed, blueprinted in the western legacy from Plato to Lenin,... more
„Western faiths are redemption narratives,” George Steiner claims – and, somehow contradicting himself, he soon adds: “The utopian, messianic, positivist-meliorist ‘futures’ presumed, blueprinted in the western legacy from Plato to Lenin, from the Prophets to Leibniz, may no longer be available to our syntax. We now look back at them. They are monuments for remembrance, as obstinately haunting as Easter Island stone faces, on the journey into our outset.” Apparently, the author of Grammars of Creation fails to appreciate the “cryptotheological” potential of language, evident in the latter’s ability to appropriate and transform the religious resources latent in the human speech. It is more than questionable that messianic tropes, inscribed as they are in the European social imaginaries, have all lost their ability to reappear and strike back, even if it be in disguise as long repressed political or theological discourses. The return of all those suppressed elements in the atmosphere of “religious resurgence,” to use the subtitle of Gilles Kepel’s The Revenge of God, is always possible. It is at this point that the reflection on some parts of the European heritage may become entangled with the analysis of different sorts of Messianisms that arise in response to a crisis experienced as the breakdown of the foundations of Western culture in philosophical, religious, ethical, social and political terms.
The contemporary “messianic turn,” observable in numerous ways in the theologico-political thinking on culture and postsecular philosophy, is noteworthy in that it shows how different varieties of Messianism become vocal in the political (both liberal and conservative) agenda, as well as religious, philosophical and educational projects. The Logos of the West, in the sense of its complex history and ongoing transformation of its cultural codes and cognitive paradigms, makes researchers of different backgrounds and Weltanschauung pose again the question of the cognitive and axiological value of Messianism.
The deadline for submissions is 31 October 2014. Please send paper proposals of up to 200 words for 20-minute presentations together with your personal data and professional affiliation (see registration form attached) to [email protected]. More detailed information will be sent along with the notification of acceptance by 10 November 2014.
The contemporary “messianic turn,” observable in numerous ways in the theologico-political thinking on culture and postsecular philosophy, is noteworthy in that it shows how different varieties of Messianism become vocal in the political (both liberal and conservative) agenda, as well as religious, philosophical and educational projects. The Logos of the West, in the sense of its complex history and ongoing transformation of its cultural codes and cognitive paradigms, makes researchers of different backgrounds and Weltanschauung pose again the question of the cognitive and axiological value of Messianism.
The deadline for submissions is 31 October 2014. Please send paper proposals of up to 200 words for 20-minute presentations together with your personal data and professional affiliation (see registration form attached) to [email protected]. More detailed information will be sent along with the notification of acceptance by 10 November 2014.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Russian Studies, Russian Literature, Czech History, Central Europe, Central European history, and 21 moreHerder, Czech & Slovak Studies, Central European Literature, Russian Philosophy, Czech Literature, Czech Literature/Czech Culture/Language, Central European Studies, 19th Century Central Europe, Johann Gottfried Herder, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, East-Central European History, Slavic Studies, Russian and Slavonic Studies, Slovak Literature, Slavic Languages and Literatures, East Central Europe, Panslavism, History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, Slavophilism, and The Philosophy of Johann Gottfried Herder
When seen from the core-(semi)peripheral perspective most of the postsocialist countries in East and Central Europe seem to non-reflectively adopt directives from the hegemonic core countries and supranational institutions. This process... more
When seen from the core-(semi)peripheral perspective most of the postsocialist countries in East and Central Europe seem to non-reflectively adopt directives from the hegemonic core countries and supranational institutions. This process occurs also in the academic world, where the period of division of Eastern Europe from the rest of the continent behind the Iron Curtain is perceived as an era of isolation of scholars from the global circulation of knowledge. Political and economic transition after 1989, which in Poland is identified with the Balcerowicz Plan, introduced neoliberal market's logic also to the academic world. However, instead of enhancing the postsocialist academia to join the core, this process pushed it to the (semi)peripheral position. Hence, research among a group of young scholars (interviews) and my own practice in organizational activity in a Polish university (participant observation) show that modern transformation of academic institutions were subjects not to the neoliberal logic but technocratic. It became a clear trend especially after the accession to the EU. Hence, the state of affairs is distant from the real liberal free market and instead it relies on the bureaucratic and technocratic apparatus from both - local (postsocialist remains) as well as supranational levels (the EU). As a consequence we can observe that Polish universities are not on the straight way to the core/center, but rather in opposite direction - to the peripheries. But what about the active role of the civil society? What about the tradition of resistance to the authoritarian power? What about the Solidarity ethos?
Research Interests: Higher Education, Postsocialism, Transformation of University Systems, Central Europe, Neoliberalism, and 17 moreGlobalization And Higher Education, Central European Studies, Higher Education Studies, Higher Education Policy, Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East European Studies, Core-Periphery, Neoliberal Reforms in Education, Technocracy, Democratic Transitions, Education Studies, East Central Europe, Semiperiphery, Postsocialist Cultural Studies, Semi-periphery, Neoliberal Education Policy, and Neoliberal Education
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Comparative Literature, History of Ideas, U.S. Intellectual History, Intellectual and cultural history, and 14 moreHistory of Consciousness, Russian Intellectual History, European intellectual history, Slavistics, Jakobson, Roman, Slavic Studies, Translingualism, Slavic Philology, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Translingual Literature, History of Slavistics, Multilingual/ Translingual Practices, Roman Jakobson, and Translingual Competence
Research Interests: Intellectual History, History of Ideas, Polish History, Exile, Polish Literature, and 13 morePolish Studies, Polish Migration, Slavistics, Jakobson, Roman, Slavic Studies, Polish language, literature and culture, Polish Diaspora, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Polonia, Manfred Kridl, History of the Left, Roman Jakobosn, and Józef Wittlin
Research Interests: German Studies, Russian Studies, World Literatures, Comparative Literature, Czech History, and 22 moreCzech & Slovak Studies, World Literature, Russian History, Russian Intellectual History, Slavistics, Johann Gottfried Herder, German Intellectual History, Comparative Slavic Studies, Central and Eastern Europe, East-Central European History, Slavic Studies, Slavic Philology, Slavic Languages and Literatures, History of Slovakia, East Central Europe, Pan-Slavism, Panslavism, History of 19th and 20th Century East Central Europe, Slavophilism, Central and Eastern European Studies, Eastern/Central Europe, and The American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA)
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
"Faculty of Humanities Nicolas Copernicus University (Toruń, Poland) on 17th-19th September 2014 organizes international conference of European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) titled ‘Situating Solidarities:... more
"Faculty of Humanities Nicolas Copernicus University (Toruń, Poland) on 17th-19th September 2014 organizes international conference of European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) titled ‘Situating Solidarities: social challenges for science and technology studies’.
We would like to pass the information about this conference, with the details of its merits, calls for tracks, papers and other dead-lines which can be found at: www.easst.umk.pl
About the conference:
The EASST conference 2014 addresses the dynamics and interrelationships between science, technology and society. Contributors are invited to address the meeting’s theme of ‘Situating Solidarities’ though papers on any topic relevant to the wider field are also welcome.
The theme of ‚situating solidarities’ addresses asymmetries of power through a focus on material, situated sociotechnical configurations. Heterogeneous networks of actors are stabilised to different degrees through complex negotiations. Rather than seeking universal abstractions the theme asks questions such as: What do the chains and networks of asymmetries look like? How do they travel? What do they carry? Do asymmetries translate to inequalities? What are the solidarities that shape the practices, artifacts and ‚know-hows’ in situated material contexts?
Political and ethical engagement is a central concern for a view of science as changes in collective practice, rather than as individual contemplation. How should STS observe or influence the raising and erasing of social and technical asymmetries in everyday life? What do the ‚situated solidarities’ of dealing with asymmetries and inequalities look like? Can STS contribute to the work of solidarising to connect asymmetric agents, places, moves and networks to weaken inequalities and change hegemonic relations?"
We would like to pass the information about this conference, with the details of its merits, calls for tracks, papers and other dead-lines which can be found at: www.easst.umk.pl
About the conference:
The EASST conference 2014 addresses the dynamics and interrelationships between science, technology and society. Contributors are invited to address the meeting’s theme of ‘Situating Solidarities’ though papers on any topic relevant to the wider field are also welcome.
The theme of ‚situating solidarities’ addresses asymmetries of power through a focus on material, situated sociotechnical configurations. Heterogeneous networks of actors are stabilised to different degrees through complex negotiations. Rather than seeking universal abstractions the theme asks questions such as: What do the chains and networks of asymmetries look like? How do they travel? What do they carry? Do asymmetries translate to inequalities? What are the solidarities that shape the practices, artifacts and ‚know-hows’ in situated material contexts?
Political and ethical engagement is a central concern for a view of science as changes in collective practice, rather than as individual contemplation. How should STS observe or influence the raising and erasing of social and technical asymmetries in everyday life? What do the ‚situated solidarities’ of dealing with asymmetries and inequalities look like? Can STS contribute to the work of solidarising to connect asymmetric agents, places, moves and networks to weaken inequalities and change hegemonic relations?"