Polish Reader Research Articles

Nakazał zbudować sobie dom, by w nim odbywały się uroczystości zaślubin. Absalona ze Sprinckirsbach kazanie XL na poświęcenie kościoła

The Polish reader is hereby presented with a translation of the third of four sermons by Absalon of Sprinckirsbach (died 1205), an author belonging to the Victorine circle, on the consecration of the church. The translation is accompanied by several commentaries in the form of footnotes. The Latin text of the work, which is currently only available in a non-critical version in the Latin patrology, has also been added so that the proposed translation can be easily compared with the original. The submitted publication is part of a wider project. As part of this project, two texts have so far been submitted for publication, namely translations of Absalon’s sermons XXXVIII and XXXIX intended for the day of the dedication of the temple.

"Filozof i prostak" „z cesarskiego miasta Szang-hai”. Miejsce wczesnej humoreski w twórczości Bolesława Prusa

The article presents an analysis of Bolesław Prus’s satirical microstory "Filozof i prostak" ["Philosopher and Simpleton"] from the collection "To i owo, właściwie zaś: ani to, ani owo, czyli 48 powiastek dla pełnoletnich dzieci" ["This and That, or Rather, Neither One Nor the Other: 48 Tales for Children of Age"]. It discusses the manner in which China, as the setting of the story, is portrayed, in line with the nineteenth-century knowledge and awareness of the far-away country. The article addresses the question of the appropriateness of choosing China as a backdrop for events, given its geographical and cultural distance from the perspective of a Polish reader. In addition to embodying a significant concept in Prus’s entire body of work, namely humour understood as a precise and sophisticated literary tool, the work bears the characteristics of a parable. As shall be demonstrated, certain features that are present in this early work evolved and returned in a fuller form in Prus’s later works.

Przekład w służbie studiów literackich: Waleria Marrené-Morżkowska

The paper presents the activity of Waleria Marrené-Morżkowska as that typical of women who aspired to be present in literary circles at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. She was a novelist, publicist, literary critic and women’s activist who also devoted herself to translation. She translated from English, French, Italian and German, bringing to the Polish reader’s market some authors who were important but not yet widely known. She published several hundred papers on literary subjects in the most important Polish periodicals. She herself attempted to create a women’s magazine and to build a network of female authors around it. By presenting some facts from her biography and analysing her critical and literary works, we try to show the connection between her translations and her literary studies and the poetics she adhered to. This allows us to define Morżkowska as a a cultural transmitter who promoted foreign literatures through translations and journalism, who was characterised by her knowledge of recent European literature, her progressive mindset, her tolerance and independence of judgement, and who paid a great deal of attention to the social and cultural situation of women.

Ernestyna Potowska‑Rose i Maria Zakrzewska – nieznane liderki ruchu na rzecz praw kobiet

Ernestyna Potowska-Rose and Maria Zakrzewska: Unknown “Stars” of the Movement for Women’s Rights Although the beginnings of the feminist movement in the United States are widely known, few of us are aware of how important a role two Polish women played in it. It is also surprising that the activities of both women have so far been a subject of interest to foreign rather than Polish researchers. The aim of this article is, therefore, to familiarize the Polish reader with the profiles of both Ernestyna Potowska‑Rose (1810–1892) and Maria Zakrzewska (1829–1902). The story of Ernestyna Potowska‑Rose is an extremely fascinating one. Suffice it to say that she went to the United States to co‑create an Owenite commune, and soon became one of the leading figures of both abolition and feminist movements. Also, in the nineteenth century, the second heroine of this article became a symbol for women who decided to cross the traditional boundaries set for the sexes. Together with Elizabeth Blackwell, eight years her senior, and Mary Putnam Jacobi, who was thirteen years her junior, she is considered one of the leading figures within the first generation of female physicians in the United States.

Mysticism – Conservatism – Emancipation. Lucjan Siemieński Reads St. Teresa of Ávila

The paper is devoted to the question of how Lucjan Siemieński perceived St. Teresa of Ávila, a Spanish mystic, and her works. Siemieński’s interest in mysticism developed in the 1870s, i.e., in the last stage of his life, which the poet spent in Cracow. It reflects both his fascination with the European tradition, which, as a translator, he assimilated into the Polish culture since adolescence, and the conviction (shared with conservatives from Cracow) about the important role of the Catholic Church in history. Familiarizing the Polish reader with the life and work of the Spanish saint, Siemieński emphasizes the practical and intellectual aspects of her apostolic mission. In his essay, the gender of the protagonist in no way determines her social or religious position. The critic does not address the emancipatory dimension of her activities. By presenting her image to the readers and translating her poetry into Polish, he supports the tradition of Catholic literature and Catholicism, hoping that they will contribute to the revival of the nation.

The Image of a Romantic Female-Beloved between Two Cultures: The Attempts at Translating of Adam Mickiewicz’ Love Lyrics by Cossack Officer Ivan Ul’ianov

The study of the evolution of the narratives created by the Don Cossacks in the first half of the nineteenth century is a difficult research task because apart from records, only individual texts, often taken out of context, have survived from this time. Nonetheless, research on such topics seems quite promising. The texts of Don authors often clearly demonstrate the mechanism of transformation of the works of high culture of the nineteenth century when interpreted by amateurs. Taking into account the inevitably individual character of such a transformation in each single case, within the framework of a microhistorical approach we have examined a particular variant of such a transformation, that is the translations of Adam Mickiewicz’s love lyrics by a Cossack officer, Ivan S. Ul'inov (1803–1874). He was a nineteenth-century Don public figure, major-general, and writer. His extensive legacy, most of which has never been published, includes hitherto unknown prose translations of the Polish poet's lyrics, made in the 1820s. Nine of the eleven poems translated by Ulyanov are lyrical works about the inaccessibility of the beloved or separation from her. At the same time, within the framework of traditional Cossack matrimonial practices, the main form of interaction between the sexes was the marriage contracted by the will and in the interests of the parents and involving long separations between husband and wife due to regular service outings. Deviations from the traditional Cossack understanding of the gender role of women in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are often found in the texts (including autobiographical ones) of other Don Cossacks who were influenced by European culture. In a similar context, Ul'ianov’s inept translations demonstrate how the text about Polish culture changed its meaning when transferred to the Cossack environment: poems on the theme of the inaccessible beloved familiar to the Polish reader were translated into prose about the possibility of a different gender role of a woman, a complete novelty for the Cossack reader.

About Poland and Europe in Spanish: Józef Potocki and Józef Łobodowski

The diplomat Józef Potocki, who in the years 1944-1968 headed the Legation of the Republic of Poland in Madrid, and the writer Józef Łobodowski developed an intense activity in Spain to show Spanish society a positive and attractive image of Poland and its culture. These included conferences in important academic forums, publications in Spanish (articles in magazines and books) and participation in radio and television programs. Their contribution to Polonia. Revista illustrada, a monthly publication of the Polish Red Cross directed by the delegate of this institution, Juliusz Babecki, and run with the precious help of his daughter Karolina Babecka, is noteworthy. Polonia was an exception among the Polish exile magazines as it was addressed not to the Polish reader but to the country’s readers where it was published. Among its subscribers were prominent representatives of Spain’s political, ecclesiastical, and cultural elite. Both intellectuals, Potocki and Łobodowski, knew how to convey to their readers interesting information about their homeland and what was happening in Central and Eastern Europe.

Poetyka polskiego przekładu Genji monogatari, czyli Opowieści o księciu Genjim Murasaki Shikibu

POETICS OF THE FIRST POLISH TRANSLATION OF GENJI MONOGATARI, OR THE TALE OF GENJI BY MURASAKI SHIKIBU: THE TRANSLATOR’S POINT OF VIEW The article identifies the most important translation strategies and challenges faced by the translator of the first Polish translation of Genji Monogatari, or The Tale of Genji. The work, written in 1008, is a masterpiece of not only Japanese but also world literature and is widely included in the cultural heritage of humanity. Its author, Murasaki Shikibu (?978-1025 or 1031) is considered a forerunner of modern literary fiction with a profound humanistic approach. The work itself has been translated into modern Japanese and many European languages. Originally written in classical Japanese, it is distinguished by the ambiguity of expression, lexical polysemy, elaborate honorific language, and cultural hermeticism. The author discusses how, in light of the above, the Polish translation will balance the goal of making Murasaki’s work intelligible for the Polish reader with the need of preserving the elements of ‘foreignness’ of the old Japanese culture, for the translation is intended to fulfill not only a mediating and communicative function between Polish and Japanese cultures but also a cognitive one.

Amfory w ekspozycji Muzeum Archeologicznego w Murcji (Hiszpania)

This article deals with ancient amphorae in the exhibition of the Archaeological Museum of Murcia (Spain). So far, the amphorae have only had inventory cards and there has been no typological-chronological study of them. Each of the 8 amphorae is a different type and purpose. These are finds from various locations in the Region of Murcia. The aim of the study is to supplement museum data and to show the Polish reader amphorae of local production and those imported to this region of Spain in the ancient period.

Miłosz Pinned Down?

Miłosz Pinned Down?

Buddyzm dla młodego czytelnika. O kilku realizacjach w języku polskim

The article presents contemporary examples of Polish literature for young readers which are thematically related to Buddhism. Among this type of publications, three groups can be distinguished: books with collections of Buddhist fairy tales, a socio-moral novel, and a comic book. The novel Zenek i mrówki [Zenek and the Ants] by Andrzej Grabowski is particularly interesting. Here, Buddhism is presented in a very original way, with understanding of the needs of the Polish reader and with a sensitivity in presenting information about Buddhism. On the contemporary Polish publishing market, literature for young readers concerning non-Christian religions is rare, but the development of Buddhism in Europe means that one can expect further development of local Buddhist literature.

THE ESSAY GENRE IN THE CREATIVITY OF JERZY STEMPOWSKI

The article describes the specifics of the essay genre as such his active development, his belonging to a certain genre and the main features of this genre. It is indicated that it contains the author’s thoughts on a certain problems, allows synthesis in the content of artistic, journalistic, philosophical and scientific principles. It is noted that the essay is characterized by polemics. The works of researchers regarding the nature of the genre are given in the article. it is noted that today there are many interpretations of this term. The features of this genre have been clarified in the work of the famous Polish essayist and literary critic Jerzy Stempowski. In Polish essay writing, the preference belonged to emigre writers, who quite often used this genre in their works. Emigration becomes a special place for creativity, where the writer is free from all cultural and social norms of his society. The main social and personal reasons for the appearance and popularity of the essay genre in the works of the Polish artist are determined, in particular, attention is paid to his long-term cooperation with the magazine “Kultura”. The universality of the theme of the collection “Selected Essays”, which includes 22 works, is indicated. The subjectivity inherent in a genre essay is the main aspect of E.Stempovsky’s essay writing. The position of the peasantry, ancient philosophy, current politics, international relations, the nuances of literary studies, the search for the essence and purpose of art, the moral attitude in times of indignity — all these are the leading themes of the essayist’s works. Jerzy Stempowski’s work, in which he described Ukraine and Ukrainian history in an essay, presented Ukrainian culture to the Polish reader.

Terror rewolucyjny i represje komunistyczne w Jugosławii w latach 1941–1946. Zarys problematyki

This article is a scientific study of an issue that is rather little known to the Polish reader. The communist terror and repression in Yugoslavia during World War II were used by Tito's partisans and later by soldiers and functionaries of the security apparatus of the communist Yugoslav state. In the years 1941–1946 the victims of communist terror were tens of thousands of political and class opponents of the KPJ, actual or merely alleged collaborators of the occupiers, as well as representatives of national minorities. The events described in the article created an extremely complex picture of the reality of the years of war and the first year of communist rule in Yugoslavia, which included: collaboration, ethnic cleansing, communist revolution, civil war and the beginnings of the communist order. The presented article is based on the available literature on the subject: Yugoslav literature, including emigration literature, as well as scientific studies published after 1991 in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They have been supplemented with selected items from Western and Polish literature on the subject.

Krótka historia kodyfikacji na rzecz chemii przyjaznej środowisku

A Brief History of Codifications for Environmentally Friendly Chemistry Since the beginning of the 1990s, environmental protection has played an increasingly important role both in the chemical industry and in the scientific work of chemists in the academic world. A noteworthy feature of the so-called green chemistry and sustainable chemistry is the emphasis that practitioners of both disciplines lay on codifying the principles, rules, and characteristics that environmentally friendly chemical reactions and processes should meet. These codifications have a complicated epistemological status: they aim to set the criteria of ‘greenness’, indicate the direction of scientific development, and build the foundations for new research programs. While the most famous of these codifications are the twelve principles of green chemistry developed in the United States in 1998, successive attempts to codify a new type of environmentally friendly chemistry have been regularly made over the last twenty years – not only in the United States but also in Germany. Starting with American green chemistry, through German ‘soft chemistry’ (sanfte Chemie) and chemistry for sustainable development, and ending with circular chemistry, this article is an attempt to familiarize the Polish reader with this new tool in the work of researchers and engineers. Its purpose is to pay particular attention to the context of the creation and interpretation of consecutive sets of rules of a new type of chemistry and the challenges related to their application.

Рэцэпцыя творчасці Сакрата Яновіча ў Польшчы

The article focuses on the reception of the literature of the Belarusian writer living in Poland, Sokrat Janowicz. His works, like many foreign-language authors, are perceived by the Polish reader only on the basis of translations. Janowicz’s translated books do not have their equivalents in the original, they are a selection of works from the author’s volume. On the basis of the published collections, the writer was admitted to the Association of Polish Writers, and his prose was included in the canon of Polish literature. The situation in which translations show only a certain aspect of the author’s work causes problems with its reception and analysis. An example of this is including Janowicz in the so-called peasant trend. The rural reality presented in the works as the sociological living conditions of Belarusians in Poland is not the main subject of this writer’s literature. In his works, Janowicz shows the interesting inner world of a man who tries to understand his existence on the borderland of cultures. He emphasizes the importance of the native tradition, the “language of childhood”.

Podróże Jarosława Iwaszkiewicza w kontekście etnokulturowym (dyskurs polsko-rosyjski). Na materiale „Dzienników” pisarza

Travels were an important part of Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz’s life. One of the destinations he chose was the Soviet Union. These trips were usually of an official character, and less often – private. The writer meticulously noted down his impressions in his private Dzienniki [Diaries], and sometimes shared them with the Polish reader in columns and newspaper articles. The author of Panny z Wilka [The Maids from Wilko] masterfully immortalised the realities prevailing in the Soviet Union. Iwaszkiewicz’s view of Russia, and St Petersburg in particular, is not the account of an ordinary tourist, because the writer perceived the world through the prism of literature, constantly confronting reality with literary images. This makes Dzienniki extremely interesting material for analysis. This article takes a journey across Russia, in the footsteps of Iwaszkiewicz, focuses on literary allusions, admiration of nature and architecture, and pays special attention to the absurdities of the communist state.

António Feijó i Leopold Staff – poetyckie wizje Orientu na tle polsko-portugalskich relacji literackich i kulturalnych (od parnasizmu do palimpsestu)

The article aims to discuss the Chinese culture inspirations in Polish and Portuguese modernist poetry. In the context of Polish-Portuguese literary relationships, late Romantic, Symbolic, Parnassianism-related and Oriental tendencies are presented in the works of a Portuguese poet Antón Feijó (1859–1917), with references to a selected aspect of Leopold Staff’s works (1878–1957). A historical-literary analysis is accompanied by literary and cultural comparative studies. Within the comparative method of presenting the Parnassian palimpsests, as 'The Chinese Lyric Book' ('Cancioneiro Chinês', 1890) by António Feijó and 'Chinese Flute' ('Fletnia chińska', 1922) by Leopold Staff are categorised, the thesis about the independent status of the works in question was built. Modernist visions of the Orient, understood to date a paraphrase or an adaptation of Chinese poetry read in translations from French, gain the status of original works. In view of blurring the differences between the European adaptations – Portuguese poem and Polish poetic prose, based on Oriental motifs drawn from two different French sources (translations): Judith Gautier’s and Franz Touissant’s works – and the Chinese original, the methodological approach to the text as to a palimpsest is justified. Feijó’s “Chinese Poetry” and Oriental poetic landscapes in Staff’s prose are therefore independent literary works, analysed in parallel, as mirror reflections of the fascination with the Orient’s culture. The literary works in question fully deserve the title of cultural texts, the recipient of which will be a Polish reader, a lover of poetry inspired by French Parnassianism.

Historyk w podróży, czyli Adolfa Pawińskiego wędrówki po Półwyspie Iberyjskim ("Hiszpania. Listy z podróży")

'Spain: Adolf Pawiński’s letters from his travels in Spain' was written in 1880. We are not dealing with a perieghesis in the nature of a scientific report or a sightseeing guide, but with a collection of texts written with the Polish reader in mind. The correspondence was to be published in the Warsaw press. This explains the volume’s character, content, and form. Pawiński wanted to give a complete picture of Spain, which he visited primarily as a historian, archivist, and tourist. Knowledge of the Spanish language allowed him to get closer to the Spanish world and understand it better. The description of the country is picturesque and, at the same time, historical. In Pawiński’s view, Spain is an “agglomerate”. The image of Spain is multi-faceted, based on knowledge and expressing his fascination with writing.

Z dziejów recepcji Luisa Vaz de Camõesa w Polsce: Adam Bełcikowski czyta "Luzjady" [Adam Bełcikowski, "Luzjady" Camõesa

The paper presents Adam Bełcikowski’s study about 'Os Lusíadas 'by Luis Vaz de Camões. Bełcikowski’s text was issued in „Nowa Reforma” in Krakow (1891, nos. 26–27, 29–32, 35–37), soon after the release of the translation of 'The Lusiads' into Polish by Zofia Trzeszczkowska (Adam M-ski) on the Polish book market. The critic made an attempt at familiarising the Polish reader with the poem, indicating its ideological-artistic value.

Las polacas w Buenos Aires: prostytutki w historii i kulturze

The article discusses the literary and cultural uses of so-called white slavery – the prostitution and pimping in the Americas (especially in South America) of women from Eastern Europe at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. This motif, tragically linking the history of Poland and Argentina, is associated with historiographic, literary, and sociological research. The article analyses various attitudes of historians towards the issue and the scope of ideological issues (in particular, the issue of anti-Semitism) and criticises the impact of the specificity of media coverage on the sensational nature of reports on the white slave trade. The main aim of the work is to present to the Polish reader both the historical context and the literary and cultural realisations of the subject in a multi-faceted manner, especially since only a few works have been translated into Polish. The second goal is to identify repetitions in prose, dramas, and audio-visual texts depicting the stories of Eastern European prostitutes in South America.