Suchergebnisse

On Obsessions That Can Be Justified, or Racism the Polish WayReview of: Grzegorz Krzywiec, Szowinizm po polsku: Przypadek Romana Dmowskiego (1886–1905) [Chauvinism the Polish Way: The Case of Roman Dmowski (1886–1905)], Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Neriton, Instytut Historii PAN 2009. O obsesjach, które można uzasadnić, czyli rasizm po polskuRecenzja: Grzegorz Krzywiec, Szowinizm po polsku: Przypadek Romana Dmowskiego (1886–1905), Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Neriton, Instytut Historii PAN 2009.

On Two Civilizations in Michał Pawlikowski's ThoughtMichał Pawlikowski (1887–1970) was a Polish essayist, poet, publisher, editor, and bibliophile. Since World War I, he was an activist of the National Democratic Party (later the National Party). After World War II, he settled in Great Britain, temporarily staying in Zakopane, Poland. Pawlikowski is the author of essays and journalism, where he collected his philosophical views on nation and culture, as well as on civilization and race. He sought cause and effect relationships in the history of humanity as factors that shaped the contemporary world. In his opinion, the world is divided between two mutually antagonistic civilizations: Western and Eastern. Such a perspective of his thought has been inscribed in Polish wider reflection on the nation. It is close to messianic concepts that were held by Romantic thinkers and artists, while at the same time it contains tints of national megalomania. His writings can be termed controversial and are often characterized as being full of discrepancies, as well as simplifying a number of complex issues; in particular, in his opponents' views Pawlikowski's thought is too close to conspiracy theory of history. Alternatively Pawlikowski deserves recognition for his depictions of man as a free human being who has a potential to make individual choices in accordance with ethical ideals and obligations towards the community.

On Two Civilizations in Michał Pawlikowski's ThoughtMichał Pawlikowski (1887–1970) was a Polish essayist, poet, publisher, editor, and bibliophile. Since World War I, he was an activist of the National Democratic Party (later the National Party). After World War II, he settled in Great Britain, temporarily staying in Zakopane, Poland. Pawlikowski is the author of essays and journalism, where he collected his philosophical views on nation and culture, as well as on civilization and race. He sought cause and effect relationships in the history of humanity as factors that shaped the contemporary world. In his opinion, the world is divided between two mutually antagonistic civilizations: Western and Eastern. Such a perspective of his thought has been inscribed in Polish wider reflection on the nation. It is close to messianic concepts that were held by Romantic thinkers and artists, while at the same time it contains tints of national megalomania. His writings can be termed controversial and are often characterized as being full of discrepancies, as well as simplifying a number of complex issues; in particular, in his opponents' views Pawlikowski's thought is too close to conspiracy theory of history. Alternatively Pawlikowski deserves recognition for his depictions of man as a free human being who has a potential to make individual choices in accordance with ethical ideals and obligations towards the community.

Wojciech J. Burszta (22 March 1957 – 5 February 2021)The text is dedicated to the memory of Professor Wojciech J. Burszta. Wojciech J. Burszta (22 marca 1957 – 5 lutego 2021)Tekst poświęcony pamięci Profesora Wojciecha J. Burszty.

Superior races, inferior races: On popularization of knowledge on human diversity in the Polish lands in the era of PositivismThis article aims at demonstrating why an attitude to view the human diversity according to a criterion of race originated in the society in the epoch of Positivism. It is an outline of a specific approach of Polish popular science to popularize achievements of word science in the field of anthropology. The fact that races exist was then taken for granted and efforts were made to describe them. Readers of periodicals were acquired with racial classifications based on geographical and morphological criteria, often evaluating civilizations of individual races and the races themselves.Opinions of both foreign and Polish scientists, travelers and journalists were influenced by Eurocentric world view, and consequently the recognition of a white man, his appearance, activities and civilization, as a pattern that should be followed and imitated by all others in the name of human progress. The term race itself was not defined; moreover, it was used without consistency and arbitrarily, and frequently interchangeably with such terms as 'generation,' 'people,' 'branch,' 'tribe' and 'nation.' Despite the aboundance of press publications on human races, the knowledge of this notion did not became a systematic one. Notions specific for the then anthropology became more widely known, and the glorification of colonial successes of the white man helped enforce a conviction of his superiority over "wild races" and support cruelty conducted in the name of progress. However, Polish positivist thought approached scientific racism with criticism. Rasy wyższe, rasy niższe. O popularyzacji wiedzy na temat różnorodności ludzkiej na ziemiach polskich w dobie pozytywizmuCelem artykułu jest ukazanie jednej z dróg, która przyczyniła się do zakorzenienia w polskim społeczeństwie myślenia o różnorodności ludzkiej podług wartościującego kryterium rasy. W tekście została zarysowana specyfika popularnonaukowego ujęcia tego problemu w dobie pozytywizmu. Dążono wówczas do upowszechnienia zdobyczy nauki światowej w dziedzinie antropologii. Przyjmowano jako pewnik istnienie ras, starano się je opisać. Na łamach czasopism zaznajamiano czytelnika z klasyfikacjami rasowymi opartymi na kryteriach geograficznych i morfologicznych, z czasem wartościującymi, wyżej lub niżej oceniającymi zdobycze cywilizacyjne poszczególnych ras i same rasy.Na rozważaniach zarówno zagranicznych jak i polskich badaczy, podróżników i popularyzatorów wiedzy piętno wywarł światopogląd europocentryczny, a w związku z tym uznanie człowieka białego - jego wyglądu, jego działań i jego cywilizacji - za wzorzec, któremu inni powinni się podporządkować w imię ogólnoludzkiego postępu. Nie definiowano samego terminu "rasa", ponadto używano go bez większej konsekwencji, dowolnie, a często zamiennie z takimi pojęciami jak "pokolenie", "lud", "szczep", "plemię", a także "naród". Wielość materiału prasowego na temat ras ludzkich nie usystematyzowała więc wiedzy na ich temat. Spopularyzowano słownictwo charakterystyczne dla ówczesnej antropologii, gloryfikując kolonizacyjne dokonania "białego człowieka", umocniono przekonanie o jego wyższości nad "rasami dzikimi", oswojono z okrucieństwem dokonywanym w imię postępu. Polska refleksja pozytywistyczna była jednak krytyczna wobec rasizmu naukowego.

Are we "human zoo"?Review: The Invention of Race. Scientific and Popular Representation, N. Bancel, T. David, D. Thomas (ed.), Routlege: New York-Abington, 2014, ss. 320.The book under review is a collection of articles presenting the functioning of the idea of the human race in the scientific, social and cultural backgrounds. The main purpose is to demonstrate how the concept of race have circulated from the late 18th century in scholarship as well as in popular reception. Thus the authors focus their attention on the so-called ethnological expositions (such as Negro or Eskimo Villages) organized on the occasion of world's fairs, today known as "human zoo." On the social level, this helped support the conviction of the supremacy of the white race. Czy jesteśmy "ludzkim zoo"?Recenzja: The Invention of Race. Scientific and Popular Representation, N. Bancel, T. David, D. Thomas (ed.), Routlege: New York-Abington, 2014, ss. 320.Recenzowana praca zawiera zbiór artykułów poświęconych przedstawieniu funkcjonowania koncepcji podziału ludzkości na rasy na szerokim tle: naukowym, społecznym i kulturowym. Główny cel stanowi zobrazowanie procesu cyrkulacji idei rasy – od ujęć naukowych począwszy od końca XVIII w. aż do ukazania problemu na płaszczyźnie odbioru masowego. Tu obiektem zainteresowań badawczych stały się tzw. ekspozycje etnologiczne (np. wioski murzyńskie, eskimoskie) organizowane przy okazji wystaw światowych, określane dzisiaj mianem "ludzkich zoo". Płaszczyzna ta przyczyniła się do utrwalenia w świadomości społecznej poczucia supremacji białej rasy.

Aryans and Turanians. Franciszek H. Duchiński's views on race and civilization The article deals with a theory of non-Slavic origins of Russians. This theory was authored by Franciszek Duchinski (1816-1893) who claimed that civilizational specifity of Russians stems from their racial origin that is different from the origin of the remaining European nations. He believed that because of this fact, two opposing civilizations emerged: the eastern civilization created by the Mongolian root, with a lack of rule of law and domination of despotism, and the western civilization existing among the Indoeuropean peoples who respected freedom and human dignity. Duchinski was convinced that the two civilization differed one from another most of all due to several external and mental factors instead of biological discrepancies. He did not evaluate races and civilizations as better or worse, and he did not giva a definion of the notion of race. This unprecise attitude was characteristic of the 19th century writings. Such notions as "race", "nation", "tribe", or "clan", were used interchangeably. Moreover, racial hierarchy was not considered as something improper.Duchinski's views on the Asian despotism on the whole agreed with those abiding in the Polish writings in the 19th century, with dominating opinions that Russia and Europe represented different civilizations and were in a permanent antagonism. Duchinski's aim was to warn Western European community that East is a threat to the West and he wanted to demonstrate that Poland had a role to play for the Latin Christianity.His conclusions about the antynomy of civilizations are still valid even though today we tend to deny that race and civilization are interconnected. Now civilizational identity is seen first of all in a variety of different values, beliefs, institutions and social structures. Thus, one should agree with Duchinski that civilizations are indeed different but we still should avoid to evaluate them as better or worse. Ariowie i Turańczycy. Poglądy Franciszka H. Duchińskiego na temat rasy i cywilizacjiTekst jest poświęcony teorii niesłowiańskiego pochodzenia Rosjan. Jej autor, Franciszek H. Duchiński (1816-1893), uzasadniał odmienność cywilizacyjną Rosjan ich innym od pozostałych ludów Europy pochodzeniem rasowym. Ono, jak uważał, zadecydowało o powstaniu funkcjonujących w opozycji dwóch cywilizacji: wschodniej, stworzonej poprzez pierwiastek mongolski, gdzie dominowało bezprawie i despotyzm, oraz zachodniej, powstałej jako wytwór ludów indoeuropejskich, które respektowały wolność i godność człowieka. Duchiński uzasadniał różnice między nimi w większym stopniu czynnikami zewnętrznymi i mentalnymi niż biologicznymi. Nie wartościował ras i cywilizacji, a pojęcia "rasa" nie definiował. Brak ścisłości w tym względzie był charakterystyczny dla XIX-wiecznego piśmiennictwa. Często stosowano zamiennie pojęcia "rasa", "naród", "plemię", "szczep". Nie uważano też za naganne hierarchizowania ras.Opinie Duchińskiego na temat azjatyckiej despotii nie odbiegały od powszechnie przyjętych w piśmiennictwie polskim XIX w. Dominujący w nim wątek stanowiło przekonanie o odmienności cywilizacyjnej Rosji i Europy i o trwałym pomiędzy nimi antagonizmie. Działalność Duchińskiego miała służyć uświadomieniu opinii zachodnioeuropejskiej zagrożenia jakie płynęło dla Europy ze strony cywilizacji wschodniej oraz roli Polski na przedmurzu chrześcijaństwa łacińskiego.Spostrzeżenia na temat antynomii wspomnianych cywilizacji są i dziś aktualne. Współcześni badacze problemu przeczą rzecz jasna związkom pomiędzy rasą i cywilizacją. Kładą za to nacisk na różnice w sferze wartości, wierzeń, instytucji i struktur społecznych, które decydują o tożsamości cywilizacyjnej. O ile więc można nie godzić się z argumentacją Duchińskiego, to w sferze wniosków należy autorowi przyznać rację i nie wartościując cywilizacji uznać je za odmienne.

National megalomania in Polish reflection in the early 20th centuryIn the early 20th century, a number of Polish thinkers betrayed a mentality in which was deeply rooted the notion of the Polish nation's unique character. These thinkers also expressed a conviction that Poles had a special mission both in Europe in general and towards other European nations. The signs of the intellectual elite's national megalomania were reflected in Polish journalistic writings in the final period of World War I and the initial period of regained independence shortly after it.The article analyzes the views of selected thinkers: the philosopher W. Lutosławski, the journalist and literary critic A. Górski, the publicist A. Chołoniewski, and the historian J.K. Kochanowski. All of them believed in an optimistic picture of Polish history and emphasized the significance of the Polish mission in an ethical dimension understood as a desire to establish European order based both on respect towards the individual and at the same time on national diversity. This attitude was clearly based on Romantic thought – a historiosophy tinted with mesianism. All these authors dealt with the same themes from Polish history, treating them as a justification of their attitudes (such as: the Republic of Nobility as an embodiment of the ideal of freedom, Poland as an intermediary between the East and the West, as well as the propagator of Christian civilization in the East; the prominent role of Poles among the Slavic peoples, the importance of Catholicism). All in all, they created a mythologized vision of the Polish Republic in order to integrate the Polish society and mobilize it to act. This stream of glorification of the Polish statehood met with severe criticism after Poland regained its independence. S. Zakrzewski, F. Bujak, J.S. Bystroń, Bocheński brothers and others protested against falsifying the history of Poland.