Search results

Of Slaveholders and Renegades: Semantic Uncertainties in Volodymyr Antonovych's Conversion to UkrainiannessIn an article published in the St. Petersburg-based Ukrainian language journal Osnova (Foundation) in 1862, Włodzimierz Antonowicz, formally the descendant of a Polish family from the landed gentry in Ukraine, declared that from then on he would consider himself a Ukrainian. In the present essay, I analyze the polemics around what can be called Antonovych's conversion from Polishness to Ukrainianness. Antonovych as well as his adversaries brought into play various concepts of nationality and national identity, switching quite freely between various frames of references (political thought of the Enlightenment and the Romantic era, contemporary historical fiction, and historiography). Panowie i renegaci: semantyczne niuanse konwersji Włodzimierza Antonowicza na ukraińskośćW artykule opublikowanym w 1862 roku w petersburskim ukraińskojęzycznym dzienniku "Osnova" Włodzimierz Antonowicz, formalnie potomek polskiej rodziny ziemiańskiej z Ukrainy, oświadczył, że od tego momentu będzie siebie uznawał za Ukraińca. Autor eseju analizuje polemikę wokół tego, co można nazwać konwersją Antonowicza od polskości do ukraińskości. Antonowicz, podobnie jak jego adwersarze, posługiwał się różnymi koncepcjami narodowości i tożsamości narodowej, dość swobodnie przechodząc do odmiennych odniesień w myśli politycznej (Oświecenia i epoki romantyzmu, współczesnej prozie historycznej i historiografii).

Die Anthologie versammelt vierzehn Texte, die einen Überblick über Positionen des polnischen Katastrophismus der Zwischenkriegszeit geben. Diese weltanschaulich höchst heterogene Strömung umfasste sowohl dystopische Zukunftsvisionen in Literatur und Kunst als auch kulturpessimistische und zeitkritische Interventionen in der Publizistik. Letztere dokumentiert der vorliegende Band. In seiner Einführung skizziert der Herausgeber Andrzej Kołakowski (1942-2015) die ideengeschichtlichen Voraussetzungen des Phänomens und unternimmt eine typologische Kategorisierung verschiedener ideologischer und epistemologischer Grundlinien des Katastrophismus. Die Artikel stammen von Autoren unterschiedlicher Profession und intellektuell-weltanschaulicher Prägung. Das Spektrum reicht von Naturwissenschaftlern (Napoleon Cybulski, Ryszard Świętochowski) und Theologen (Andrzej Krzesiński, Józef Pastuszka), über Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaftler (Stefan Czarnowski, Marian Massonius, Marian Zdziechowski, Florian Znaniecki) bis hin zu politischen Publizisten (Jerzy Braun, Zygmunt Wasilewski, Jan Stachniuk). Dazu kommt der Schriftsteller Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, der hier mit zwei kulturdiagnostischen Traktaten vertreten ist. Die Erstpublikation aller Texte fällt in die Zwischenkriegszeit, mit Ausnahme eines Ausschnitts aus Witkiewiczs 1936 verfasster Abhandlung "Niemyte dusze" (Ungewaschene Seelen), die 1938/39 nur in Teilen in einer Literaturzeitschrift erschienen.

As a writer, critic, and philosopher, Stanisław Brzozowski (1878-1911) left a lasting imprint on Polish culture. He absorbed virtually all topical intellectual trends of his time, adapting them for the needs of what he saw as his primary mission: the modernization of Polish culture. The essays of the volume reassess and contextualize Brzozowski's writings from a distinctly transnational vantage point. They shed light on often surprising and hitherto underrated affinities between Brzozowski and intellectual figures and movements in Eastern and Western Europe. Furthermore, they explore the presence of his ideas in twentieth-century century literary criticism and theory.

Several of the most prolific and influential conspiracy theories have originated in Eastern Europe. The far reaching influence of conspiracy narratives can be observed in recent developments in Poland or with regard to the wars waged in Eastern Ukraine and in former Yugoslavia. This volume analyses the history behind this widespread phenomenon as well the role it has played in Eastern European cultures and literature both past and present.

Several of the most prolific and influential conspiracy theories have originated in Eastern Europe. The far reaching influence of conspiracy narratives can be observed in recent developments in Poland or with regard to the wars waged in Eastern Ukraine and in former Yugoslavia. This volume analyses the history behind this widespread phenomenon as well the role it has played in Eastern European cultures and literature both past and present.