Century Polish Research Articles

From Research on the Musical “Trans-avant-garde”: A Contribution to the Discussion on the Terminology Concerning the Historiography of 20th Century Polish Music

he research article discusses the concept of “the trans -avant- garde” (a term coined by the Italian art critic Achille Bonito Oliva to describe certain phenomena in visual arts, espe- cially painting, which have appeared since the end of the 1970s) and attempts to adapt it for a discussion of twentieth century Polish music. The trans-avant-garde (Italian la transavanguardia ) is an Italian form of expressionism in art (neo-expressionism), origi- nating as a rejection of modernism, formalism, innovation, originality, and stylistic coher- ence, which began to treat tradition in a new way, extensively referring to 16 th century mannerisms, ambiguity, stylistic pluralism and polysemy. While, on the one hand, trans-avant-garde artists are fully aware of the crisis of the avant- garde experiment, on the other, they aim to create content-packed works of deeply expres- sive and romantic character. The trans-avant-garde is widely considered to be an early stage of postmodernism, or simply its synonym. There is a difference, though, between the trans-avant-garde and the postmodern. Oliva speaks of a journey from America to Eu- rope and back. My article discusses these differences, systematizes the most important stylistic aspects and aesthetic ideas, and applies these observations to the study of music — a discipline Oliva did not take into consideration. A key issue in the description of the trans-avant-garde in Polish music is analysis of the trends that precede it, are synchronous with it, and follow it in history. It is also important to trace borrowings and differences along this time axis. In order to offer an insight of this kind, I first present the different concepts of “modernity” and “postmodernity” that have appeared in music (and art) of the twentieth century, and I then juxtapose those with the Italian original idea of la transavanguardia .

Analytic tendencies in modern Polish and Russian

Analytic tendencies in modern Polish and RussianModern Polish and Russian are characterized by some features which demonstrate an increasing level of analitism. In the process of transformation from synthetic to analytical language, a crucial role is played by prepositional units. In this research, analitism is understood in a traditional way as a morphological and syntactic phenomenon. The fact that the synthetic structure of a language may, in some conditions, turn into an analytical one, as happened in the case of Bulgarian and Macedonian, has been intriguing linguists ever since, and has made me attempt to answer the question: What is the condition of modern Polish and Russian, which are languages with a rich literary tradition and solid grammatical norms, which belong to a group of synthetic languages? The analytical tendencies in morphology include the following: a decrease in the number of cases in all inflected parts of speech; a more frequent use of uninflected nouns and adjectives; the growing importance of nouns with common gender, and, in particular, the use of forms of masculine gender to depict feminine gender; differences in expressing collectiveness in a group of nouns (using collective meaning for forms that have singular meaning; substituting case forms with prepositions; substituting case forms with subordinate clauses; substituting case forms with “helper” words. Analytical tendencies in the area of numeral functioning include: substituting inflected forms of ordinal numerals with cardinal ones; the gradual disappearing inflection of numerals; confusing the forms of noun cases after numerals; the disappearing declination of collective numerals; displacing other cases with so-called simple cases; changing the syntactical position which the numeral should be inflected in; abandoning the declination of first elements of collective numerals. During the study of analytic tendencies in morphology, it was necessary to examine personal pronouns as this part of speech seems to be the most stable as far as other forms except nominative are concerned. Having analysed the material, it can be claimed that analitism in Slavic pronouns is observed at the level of the replacement of short forms with full ones, through the use of various forms after prepositions and eliminating all the alternative forms of personal pronouns. This review of analytic tendencies has also involved studying the article and its role in analytic languages, as the article is the area of a language which should be filled while the inflection disappears. Having analysed the material, I have concluded that there is a possibility that the article may appear in Polish and Russian.The most important part of speech in analytic languages is the preposition. An increase in the number of prepositional units is said to be an essential element of syntactic transformation in 20th century Polish and Russian i.e. their ongoing transformation from synthetic into analytic languages. In accordance with this tendency, secondary prepositions are gradually replacing proper prepositions and case forms in their traditional usage. The secondary preposition has been defined as a lexical unit, not being a preposition initially but used secondarily in this function. Such a definition requires adopting a functional perspective in the description, more so because the transformation of various language units (nouns, prepositional phrases, adverbs, conjunction, phraseological nexuses) into prepositions takes place gradually and the same set can be interpreted otherwise in different contexts. This comprehensive analysis of two modern Slavonic languages shows that the number of prepositional units in both languages has grown and is still increasing.

Квазиоппозиции в текстах и грамматиках XVI–XVIII вв. как маркеры устройства славянской категории одушевленности

This article examines the paradigmatic expression of animacy in the XVI–XVIIIth century Russian, Polish, Slovak and Czech languages. In Russian, animate nouns are marked only by neutralization of the Acc. and the Gen. forms, whereas in Czech, the differentiation of animate and inanimate nouns is marked primarily by different case endings for a single grammatical case. Polish and Slovak use both methods.Some texts and grammars from the early development stages of the modern Slavic literary languages reflect the creation of certain artificial oppositions. These quasioppositions are present in Dmitry Gerasimov’s and Maximus the Greek’s translations of the Church Slavonic Donatus, in the first Polish grammar by Pierre Statorius (1568), in the Czech grammars by Beneš Optat, Petr Gzel and Václav Philomathes (1531), Jan Blahoslav (1571) and Matouš Benešovský (1577), as well as in the Slovak Camaldolese Bible (1756-59).

Dziewiętnastowieczne listy gończe w badaniach nad urzędową polszczyzną wielkopolską

Arrest warrants published in the 19th century in Poznan have not been explored as the excellent material they are for historical and linguistic research. Published in the local newspapers and official journals: “Gazeta Poludniowo-Pruska”, “Gazeta Poznanska”, “Gazeta Wielkiego Ksiestwa Poznanskiego” and in “Publiczny Donosiciel. Dodatek do Dziennika Urzedowego Krolewskiey Regencyi w Poznaniu”, they represent the bureaucratic variety of the 19th century Polish language used in Wielkopolska. On top of the linguistic forms typical of the 19th century, they represent considerable material illustrating two types of regional linguistic formations: old, traditional regionalisms and a layer of new regionalisms resulting from the influence of the German language9. What is more, arrest warrants offer interesting lexical material which allows to examine several areas of vocabulary with words related to garment as the best elaborate one.

Koncepcja idealnego terminu w świetle Słownika terminologii lekarskiej polskiej z 1881 roku

The paper demonstrates attributes of an ideal term on the grounds of nineteenth century Polish medical terminology (names of disorders) from a Dictionary of Polish Medical Terminology by S. Janikowski, J. Oettinger and A. Kremer (Krakow 1881). In the first part of this dictionary, approximately 20 thousand foreign language entries are gathered (Latin, German, French, English) together with their Polish equivalents – from one to several records. The sequence of Polish terms assigned to the entries is not random: from the most to the less recommended. It means that the best terms (I call them ideal terms) come first in the synonymic line. And they are (totally 940) the subject of analysis in this paper. It results from the analysis that ideal terms are mostly: 1) native (98.4%); 2) of simple structure (comprising two elements at most – 89.3%); 3) syntactical derivatives (55.1%); 4) of non-specified origin; 5) sometimes having many meanings (12.2%); 6) relatively long-lasting, that means they generally last in the scientific terminology (74.9%) and - a little bit more rarely (more than 58%) – they keep their position of the ideal term; 7) compared to other terms in a synonymic line, in terms of the structure - frequently (65.5%) identical, that is comprising the same number of elements; 8) most frequently (41.7%) of common root – compared to other terms (all of them or just some of them) in a synonymic line.

Stratyfikacja słownictwa z komponentem nazwy barwy złotej w lirykach Leopolda Staffa (część druga)

Having compared the distribution of the colour gold in the poetical output of AdamMickiewicz, Julian Tuwim, Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, Stanislaw Grochowiakand Zbigniew Herbert with that of Leopold Staff, I conclude that it is by far most widespreadin the poetry of the latter – a classicist. Apart from some standard vocabulary, whichwas commonly used by all seven of the above-mentioned poets (zlocisty, zlocony, zloto,zloty) and well established in both spoken and written variants of early 19th century Polish,Staff used various lexical individualisms. They were mostly adjectival (often compound),but occasionally also nominal and verbal (in their singular form), e.g.: brzeczyzlotka,przezlacac sie, rozzlocic, purpurowozloty, rudozloty, zlocistoklosy, zlotoszczery. Suchfrequent occurence of lexical components designating colour gold provided light reflexesto the pictures painted with the poet’s words. Semantic poetisms, such as: topaz slonca,cieply bursztyn lasu, dźwignelaś lasy […] w bursztyn i topazy, etc., deserve a separateattention, since they greatly deepen poeticisation of the landscapes and other elements ofthe represented world. Designations of colour gold are especially prominent in the earlyvolumes of Staff’s poetry, i.e. those published by the 1920’s. In the later period, the poet’suse of the designations of all colours (not only colour gold) becomes increasingly rare,due to Staff’s turn towards more concise and condensed lyrics at the cost of abandoninglonger poetic forms, i.a. his long beloved sonnet.

Tapatybės virsmo istorija: Vaižganto Pragiedruliai ir 1918–1920 m. konfliktas dėl Vilniaus

This article deals with the problem of representation of the Lithuanian national identity in the novel Pragiedruliai (Bright Spaces) by Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas (1869–1933). The classical novel, which was planned to become an epos of the Lithuanian national revival, was published in three parts during 1918–1920 in Vilnius, at the height of political and military conflict between Lithuania and Poland over the possession of this multinational city. The author himself was one of the main Lithuanian combatants in the field of nationalist ideology and press as he edited the main Lithuanian dailies (Lietuvos Aidas, Nepriklausomoji Lietuva) in Vilnius in that period. In his numerous press articles, Vaižgantas discussed Lithuanian identity as a phenomenon born from the local spirit of nature, formed by the primeval forces of biosphere, and organically evolving into the modern state of national consciousness. By suggesting this model of “organically modern” and “naturally democratic” Lithuanian identity, Vaižgantas was creating an antithesis against the image of Lithuanians as uncivilized barbarians propagated by the Polish nationalist side. However, the novel Pragiedruliai reveals much more diverse and complicated process of conversion of the “natural” or “pantheist” Lithuanian consciousness into the modern national selfimage. While trying to elaborate the symbolic literary narrative of this identity transformation, Vaižgantas included intertextual references to Pan Tadeusz, a 19th century Polish epos about the Lithuanian Grand Duchy noblemen by Adam Mickiewicz, as well as symbols indicating the intricate link between the Lithuanian identity and the cultural history of the Grand Duchy. The original opening chapters of Vaduvų kraštas (The Land of Vaduvos), the second volume of the novel, presented an acute criticism of the Lithuanian “natural” consciousness from the perspective modern cultural liberalism. Thus the clear construction of identity used by Vaižgantas in his political rhetoric becomes complicated and in some cases is even undermined in the polysemantic literary texture of his novel.

Językowa kreacja wizerunku władców w średniopolskim piśmiennictwie historiograficznym – przyczynek do badań dyskursu tożsamościowego

The paper attempts to describe a fragment of the 16th century historiographic writing,perceived as a tool for shaping attitudes, spreading values, creating and consolidatingcollective memory. 16th century Polish catalogues of monarchs (Ikones) constitute the resourcematerial. They performed the commemorative function, but were also used by theauthorities as a channel for disseminating information about the history of the state andthe society from the angle of the deeds of sovereigns. The figures of the rulers recordedin the catalogues may serve as universal patterns of both positive (the knight, the host,the father, the faithful) as well as negative attitudes. This form of writing was decisive inrespect of what should be remembered and how, constructing common world view andhence developing the identity of the nation of the gentry.

Elementy rodzimego folkloru w polskich sonatach skrzypcowych XX wieku

Elementy rodzimego folkloru w polskich sonatach skrzypcowych XX wieku

Ideały wychowawcze w edukacji oświeceniowej (w perspektywie historii intelektualnej). Z dziejów Komisji Edukacji Narodowej

This paper discusses the ideals of education present in the schools of the Commission of National Education (Pol. KEN) in the period of the Enlightenment against the backdrop of Europe. It applies the methods of intellectual history which permit to expand the traditional history of education and formation by the social and cultural dimensions. The activities of the Commission, like the preceding reforms in the mid-eighteenth century Polish Republic (based on church education), are part and parcel of the European reforms. They were similar in terms of their spirit that combined a critical approach to modern utilitarianism—appropriate to the needs of the absolutist states that were concerned about education in the manner of religious groups— with an integral vision of school whose fundamental element was moral formation in combination with religious formation. Despite certain manifestations of rationalism and naturalism in line with the spirit of the epoch, religion remained the foundation of morality, and the latter in turn was the foundation of social order. This paper confirms the idea of the so-called long duration (longue durée), and shows that in spite of different ideological declarations we observe educational continuity in the modern school.

Piec jako nośnik idei?

Since the turn of 12th century, gradual civilization transformations, which also had significant impacts on house living conditions were observed in the area of Polish grounds. Fire places and furnaces of hypocaustum type came into use from 13th century, and from 14th century – tile stoves. The last mentioned, except for heating functions, served also as typical element of interior decoration, particularly from the moment of introducing stoves with flat tiles. First designers of this type of stove may have been recruited from builders and architects in later periods. All its construction process involved work of wood-carvers – makers of patrixes and moulds and potters of course – tile makers and stove builders.Rich gothic tiles ornamentation from the territories of Polish grounds was presented to us thanks to archaeological explorations, among the others, in: Jankowo Dolne, Jarocin, Gniezno. Motifs, as a rule, repeat the same thematic groups; tiles presenting coat of arms, religious elements and symbols, court life scenes, illustrating literary subjects, architectonic motifs, animals and plants. Similar elements can also be found in single and fragmentarily preserved polychrome of that period. Both – stoves and painting may have been a part of common iconographical program for interiors in residences and patriciate houses, which was supposed to be a kind of territorial, group and cultural membership manifestation.In Renaissance period, ornamentation and subjects of tile images changed. Exceptional objects of that time include, e.g. the stove designed for Wawel castle interior made at order of Sigismund I, placed in the apartments of Queen Elisabeth. In the reconstructed stove we identify portrait tiles of the old and young king, to manufacturing of which images of the kings: Casimir the Jagiellon and John I Albert served as models. Erecting such a stove, additionally decorated in the crown frieze with angles holding shields with the Eagle – the national symbol, and placing it in apartments designed for the Queen, could have been the homage for Queen the Mother from Sigismund’s part.Another example of a Renaissance stove expressing in this case political and religious matters can be a stove erected in Gdańsk Artus Court at the turn of 1545. Placing on tiles portraits of Catholic and Lutheran rulers depicted the situation of not only Gdańsk, but also a huge part of Europe under Habsburg Dynasty reigning.Next stove presenting by its ornaments current problems of 17th century is the reconstructed stove from Tykocin castle. Tiles obtained during excavations, decorated with family coat of arms of the starost Krzysztof Wiesiołowski and symbols displaying bravery, wealth and Christianity, refer directly to spiritual and intellectual culture of gentry sarmatism of 17th century Polish Republic.These few stove instants presented herein create the base for rather positive answer to the question placed in the article’s title, although they still require further research.

Proust, metodą Ollendorffa

The first part of the paper discusses the meandric cooperation between Marcel Proust and the Paris based publisher Paul Ollendorff that lasted over 20 years (1893-1913). Further on, the Western expansion of the Ollendorff family from Rawicz, Poland, is briefly sketched. Another passage concerns a Maeterlinck pastiche by Proust (Echo, 1911), seen in the context of Ollendorff’s conversation method of learning languages. The author suggests Proust was using this method to learn English himself. The paper ends with a survey of several mentions of Ollendorff’s method in the twentieth century Polish prose.

Wykaz Polaków wypromowanych na uniwersytecie w Bolonii w drugiej połowie XV w.

A List of Poles Promoted at the University of Bologna in the Second Half of the Fifteenth CenturyDuring the second half of the fifteenth century Polish students frequently arrived to North Italy in order to obtain doctoral degrees. The author analysed this phenomenon at the university of Bologna. Pertinent research shows that during the titular period the university in question was a prime academic centre and the destination of Poles seeking doctoral diplomas. The article presents a list of 21 Poles promoted in Bologna during the second half of the fifteenth century, with each biogramme containing an outline of a career after receiving the degree. Studies in Bologna were chiefly an element of a Church career. As a rule, the courses were attended by persons who already possessed a Church prebend, for whom a doctoral degree offered the perspective of a further and greatly promising career.

Environmental change, hydromorphological reference conditions and the restoration of Polish Carpathian rivers

ABSTRACTIn the twentieth century Polish Carpathian rivers were considerably modified by channelization and gravel mining, with significant detrimental effects to their ecological integrity, vertical stability of the streambeds and flood hazard to downstream river reaches. Restoration of the rivers is thus necessary to improve their ecological status and re‐establish geomorphic dynamic equilibrium conditions. Various approaches to defining hydromorphological reference conditions, proposed to date in river restoration literature, have serious deficiencies. In particular, environmental changes that took place in the catchments of Carpathian rivers during the twentieth century invalidate the historical state of the rivers as reference for their restoration. This is illustrated by a change from bar‐braided to island‐braided channel pattern that occurred in the past century in unmanaged sections of the Czarny Dunajec in response to a reduction in flow and sediment dynamics of the river. We indicate that reference conditions should be defined as those which exist or would exist under present environmental conditions in the catchment but without human influence on the channel, riparian zone and floodplain of the river which is to be restored. This assumption was tested through the evaluation of hydromorphological river quality of the Czarny Dunajec according to the European Standard EN‐14614. The evaluation confirmed a high‐status hydromorphological quality in an unmanaged channel section, which can thus be used as a reference for restoration of impacted river sections. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

No 'Happy Wrecks' - Pessimism and Suffering in Krzysztof Warlikowski's Adaptation of The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Krzysztof Warlikowski's 2003 production of The Tempest remains one of the most memorable in Poland: an avant-garde staging by a distinguished director, both politically aware and commercial. This essay addresses the historical, political and theatrical contexts of Warlikowski's Tempest, and explores the nuances of the production, in order to establish it as an important statement on early 21 st -century disillusionment. Having located Warlikowski's interpretation within the canon of 20 th and 21 st- century Polish Tempests , it is then considered in terms of its reaction to then-current issues surrounding the reestablishment of democracy in the country. Warlikowsi's political engagement is analysed in specific terms - as with his Gonzalo's impression of newspaper editor Adam Michnik - and more generally: deliberately awkward performances, unsettling modernisations, and ironic use of Polish folk iconography contributed to an atmosphere of political pessimism and psychological suffering. Prospero's uneasy relationships with Miranda and a newly-female Caliban and Ariel are explored as a conduit for Warlikowski's anger at Poland's social barriers, patriarchal dominance, and matters of gender identity. Finally, the essay questions Warlikowski's sacrifice of the traditionally 'universal' Tempest in favour of topicality, asking whether the production - or the aforementioned interpretations thereof - will stand the test of time.

Od litanii Gertrudy do litanii Nawojki

W jedenastowiecznym Kodeksie Gertrudy, córki Mieszka II, znajduje się dziesięć modlitw o budowie litanii. Artykuł podejmuje analizę dwu z nich: „Ut me miseram famulam Tuam Gertrudam custodire digneris…” i „Ave Maria gratia plena dominus tecum…”. Stylistyczne cechy pierwszej wskazują, że tekst miał być zaakceptowany przez księżną jako jej modlitwa prywatna, sformułowana z jej punktu widzenia i – być może – zawierająca cytaty z jej własnych wypowiedzi. Dlatego Gertruda może być uważana za autorkę, mimo że sam akt sporządzenia tekstu przypadł komu innemu. Druga litania przypomina tekst wydany przez G. G. Meerssemana z dwunastowiecznego manuskryptu przechowywanego w Paryżu. Mogła ona być podstawą dla późniejszej kopii zachodniej lub oba przekazy pochodziły (bezpośrednio lub pośrednio) z tego samego źródła. Niektóre zdania z obu wersji powtarzają się w XV-wiecznej modlitwie „Zdrowa bądź Maryja, miłości pełna…” z Modlitewnika Nawojki napisanej po polsku.

Defensio verae translationis corporis Catechismi in linguam Polonicam, adversus calumnias Joannis Secluciani Jana Maleckiego – przekład wraz z komentarzem

The response written by Jan Sandecki-Malecki provides extremely important information on the sixteenth century Polish language as it is the only meta-linguistic statement from the period available in full that has been preserved until our times. The text originated as the response that took the form of a manuscript work A Defense, against the calumnies of jan Seklucjan, of the true translation of the Body of the Catechism into the Polish language in which Malecki answered Seklucjan’s criticism in a debate centered on the proper translation of a number of passages from Scripture and contributed to the controversy between Jan Seklucjan (Seclucianus) and Malecki over the proper translation of Holy Scripture in Polish; it constitutes a polemic against the critical remarks on the Polish translation of the catechism. Being a voice and opinion on the issues related to the contemporary state and needs of the Polish language of the time, given by a member of the then intellectual elite, Defensio… illustrates well the sixteenth century linguistic competence. On the basis of the latter it is possible to reconstruct the Renaissance shape of literary Polish and evaluate its stylistic value.

Eugenika i przejawy jej recepcji w polskiej myśli politycznej do 1939 roku

Eugenics and indications - its reception in the Polish political thoughtThe term eugenics was introduced by Francis Galton in the 19th century. It is a system ofviews declaringthe possibility of improvinghereditary characteristics of human beings by creating conditions favouring the maintenance and development of advantageous features. The basis for the development of the movement was fear of the biological degeneration of mankind. The disadvantageous outbreak of social pathologies thatcould havebeen observed in a number of countries was allegedly the harbinger. So, the purpose of the movementwas to create a perfectsocietyby gradual elimination of sick and socially notadapted individuals. It was divided into two sub- categories: positive and negative eugenics. In case of the latter, the purpose was the limitation of the development of disabled persons and as it was defined euphemistically the "less valuable” ones. The most brutal method of restricting the birth ratewas the compulsory sterilization. In the article the following subjects have been presented inter alia:- beginning and development of eugenic thoughts on the Polish ground- reception of eugenic ideas in Poland- developmentof eugenics in the thirties of the 20th century Polish political thoughtversus German Sterilization Actof 1934Attitude of the Catholic Church to eugenics, inter alia the encyclical Casti connubi.

Venturing into Magnum Cathay, 17th Century Polish Jesuits in China: Michał Boym (1612–1659), Jan Mikołaj Smogulecki (1610–1656), and Andrzej Rudomina (1596–1633)

The article focuses on the report of the International Workshop on “17th Century Polish Jesuits in China: Michal Boym, Jan Mikolaj Smogulecki, and Andrzej Rudomina” held at the University School of Philosophy and Education in Poland organized by the Monumenta Serica Institute (Sinological Institute for Chinese Studies). The author focuses on the Chinese philosophy lecture by Professor Shi Yunli about the influence of Smogulecki on Xue Fengzou, Chinese culture and science and their work on astrology and astronomy.

Początki Kolegium Polskiego w Rzymie w XVI i XVII w. oraz działania zmierzające do jego utworzenia w XIX w.

After the Council of Trent during the pontificate of the Pope Gregory XII (15721585), the numerous colleges, the seminaries for priests educating future clergy, were being established in Rome. During those times the established colleges were as follows: German-Hungarian in 1552, Greek in 1577, English in 1579, Marians in 1584 (marionickie). Polish college was established after receiving papal approval at 1 September 1582 by Philippe Nereusz and existed only by the end of 1586. In the middle of the XVII century Polish King Jan Kazimierz created with papal approval Polish-Swedish college. The new institution remaining under the Polish King supervision from Waza dynasty and was destined for Polish and Swedes. Unfortunately, after the death of Jan Kazimierz the college was supervised by the Swedish Queen Kristina, who decided that the college would be destined only for Swedes. Through the following two hundred years there were not any centre educating Polish clergy. In the middle of the XIX century Bogdan Jański together with his friends and monks Peter Semeneka and Hieronim Kajsiewicz, the founders of the Congregation of the Ressurectionist Fathers, started the efforts leading to reestablishing the Polish College in Rome, that would educate and prepare the candidates for priesthood. The funds were gathered remembering about convincing the Pope to this initiative.