Postcatastrophic Re-Reading of Tadeusz Hołuj’s Puste pole

Katarzyna Adamczak

doi:10.14746/pss.2017.12.1

Abstract

This article deals with the re-interpretation of Tadeusz Hołuj’s drama Puste pole (1963; The Empty Field) and its theatrical staging by Józef Szajna in 1965. Based on the drama I want to demonstrate how the artists – who were both survivors of the concentration camp in Auschwitz – managed re-presenting the Holocaust despite the political situation and the accompanying anti-Semitic government campaign in Poland in the 1960s. The reception of the drama of then and nowadays shows how that re-presentation was once interpreted due to the political circumstances, which made the issue of the Holocaust and the Jews bannend from public life, language, and memory. Finally I explore how Hołuj’s drama can be read today when we approach it via postcatastophic re-reading determined by after-knowledge, retrospection, and retroactivity.

Highlights

This article deals with the re-interpretation of Tadeusz Hołuj’s drama Puste pole (1963; The Empty Field) and its theatrical staging by Józef Szajna in 1965
Based on the drama I want to demonstrate how the artists – who were both survivors of the concentration camp in Auschwitz – managed re-presenting the Holocaust despite the political situation and the accompanying anti-Semitic government campaign in Poland in the 1960s
The reception of the drama of and nowadays shows how that re-presentation was once interpreted due to the political circumstances, which made the issue of the Holocaust and the Jews bannend from public life, language, and memory

Summary

Introduction

This article deals with the re-interpretation of Tadeusz Hołuj’s drama Puste pole (1963; The Empty Field) and its theatrical staging by Józef Szajna in 1965. POZNAŃSKIE STUDIA SLAWISTYCZNE PSS NR 12/2017 ISSN 2084-3011

Results

Conclusion