Przemowa z okazji nadania godności doktora honoris causa Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach, 23 października 2018 roku

The presented text is the verbatim record of the address delivered on 23rd of October 2018 by John Maxwell Coetzee on the occasion of conferring on him a title of doctor honoris causa by the University of Silesia in Katowice. The theme of the speech in question is the significance of the English language in contemporary world

Kilka refleksji o nauczaniu, literaturze, pisarstwie i języku : z J.M. Coetzeem rozmawia Marek Pawlicki

A conversation with J.M. Coetzee, carried out in the July of 2019 via mail, touches upon such topics as the learning and teaching processes, the teacher‒student and the writer‒reader relations, as well as the notions of “death” and “alive [way of] reading,” the influence of Polish literature (in particular the poetry of Zbigniew Herbert) on the Nobel laureate’s works, and the Anna Wierzbicka’a concept of natural semantic meta-language

Kraina mięsa (1995)

"Lata dziewięćdziesiąte XIX wieku były w Anglii świadkiem narodzin swoistego dziwactwa, którego kredo stanowiły orzeźwiające zimne prysznice, sandały noszone bez względu na pogodę, wolna miłość, jazda na rowerze oraz unikanie alkoholu i mięsa. Dziwactwo to kojarzone było z Edwardem Carpenterem i George’em Bernardem Shawem, z grupą co bardziej pokojowo nastawionych anarchistów, z niektórymi teozofistami czy wreszcie ze wczesnymi Fabianami. W wymiarze politycznym ruch ten (zakładając, że miał wystarczająco wspólny cel lub kierunek, by móc zwać się ruchem) łączył w sobie ideały socjalizmu wspólnotowego ze skrajnym indywidualizmem i głębokim brakiem zaufania wobec państwa [...]". Esej "Meat Country" ukazał się po raz pierwszy w czasopiśmie "Granta” (52, Winter 1995)

Monitoring mosquitoes in urban Dar es Salaam: Evaluation of resting boxes, window exit traps, CDC light traps, Ifakara tent traps and human landing catches

Ifakara tent traps (ITT) are currently the only sufficiently sensitive, safe, affordable and practical method for routine monitoring host-seeking mosquito densities in Dar es Salaam. However, it is not clear whether ITT catches represent indoors or outdoors biting densities. ITT do not yield samples of resting, fed mosquitoes for blood meal analysis. Outdoors mosquito sampling methods, namely human landing catch (HLC), ITT (Design B) and resting boxes (RB) were conducted in parallel with indoors sampling using HLC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention miniature light traps (LT) and RB as well as window exit traps (WET) in urban Dar es Salaam, rotating them thirteen times through a 3 × 3 Latin Square experimental design replicated in four blocks of three houses. This study was conducted between 6th May and 2rd July 2008, during the main rainy season when mosquito biting densities reach their annual peak. The mean sensitivities of indoor RB, outdoor RB, WET, LT, ITT (Design B) and HLC placed outdoor relative to HLC placed indoor were 0.01, 0.005, 0.036, 0.052, 0.374, and 1.294 for Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (96% An. gambiae s.s and 4% An. arabiensis), respectively, and 0.017, 0.053, 0.125, 0.423, 0.372 and 1.140 for Culex spp, respectively. The ITT (Design B) catches correlated slightly better to indoor HLC (r(2) = 0.619, P < 0.001, r(2) = 0.231, P = 0.001) than outdoor HLC (r(2) = 0.423, P < 0.001, r(2) = 0.228, P = 0.001) for An. gambiae s.l. and Culex spp respectively but the taxonomic composition of mosquitoes caught by ITT does not match those of the indoor HLC (χ(2) = 607.408, degrees of freedom = 18, P < 0.001). The proportion of An. gambiae caught indoors was unaffected by the use of an LLIN in that house. The RB, WET and LT are poor methods for surveillance of malaria vector densities in urban Dar es Salaam compared to ITT and HLC but there is still uncertainty over whether the ITT best reflects indoor or outdoor biting densities. The particular LLIN evaluated here failed to significantly reduce house entry by An. gambiae s.l. suggesting a negligible repellence effect

Narrativa

As histórias, como vias de compreensão da condição humana, têm preocupado a Filosofia desde Aristóteles. O artigo, baseado em uma visão afirmativa da narratividade (Ricoeur, Rorty e MacIntyre), elabora a ideia de que a resistência à narratividade em nome de modelos redutores de cientificismo deverá ceder à compreensão de que a verdade histórica tanto é propriedade do chamado conhecimento objetivo, como do conhecimento narrativo. Num diálogo crítico entre a poética aristotélica e leituras hermenêuticas contemporâneas, discute as relações entre verdade narrativa e memória; ficção e história; catarse e testemunho; identidade narrativa e responsabilidade moral. Considerando as possibilidades de narrativa interativa e não-linear da era digital, a narrativa é considerada um convite à responsividade ética e poética

Atrasentan and renal events in patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease (SONAR): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

Background: Short-term treatment for people with type 2 diabetes using a low dose of the selective endothelin A receptor antagonist atrasentan reduces albuminuria without causing significant sodium retention. We report the long-term effects of treatment with atrasentan on major renal outcomes. Methods: We did this double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial at 689 sites in 41 countries. We enrolled adults aged 18–85 years with type 2 diabetes, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)25–75 mL/min per 1·73 m 2 of body surface area, and a urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR)of 300–5000 mg/g who had received maximum labelled or tolerated renin–angiotensin system inhibition for at least 4 weeks. Participants were given atrasentan 0·75 mg orally daily during an enrichment period before random group assignment. Those with a UACR decrease of at least 30% with no substantial fluid retention during the enrichment period (responders)were included in the double-blind treatment period. Responders were randomly assigned to receive either atrasentan 0·75 mg orally daily or placebo. All patients and investigators were masked to treatment assignment. The primary endpoint was a composite of doubling of serum creatinine (sustained for ≥30 days)or end-stage kidney disease (eGFR <15 mL/min per 1·73 m 2 sustained for ≥90 days, chronic dialysis for ≥90 days, kidney transplantation, or death from kidney failure)in the intention-to-treat population of all responders. Safety was assessed in all patients who received at least one dose of their assigned study treatment. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01858532. Findings: Between May 17, 2013, and July 13, 2017, 11 087 patients were screened; 5117 entered the enrichment period, and 4711 completed the enrichment period. Of these, 2648 patients were responders and were randomly assigned to the atrasentan group (n=1325)or placebo group (n=1323). Median follow-up was 2·2 years (IQR 1·4–2·9). 79 (6·0%)of 1325 patients in the atrasentan group and 105 (7·9%)of 1323 in the placebo group had a primary composite renal endpoint event (hazard ratio [HR]0·65 [95% CI 0·49–0·88]; p=0·0047). Fluid retention and anaemia adverse events, which have been previously attributed to endothelin receptor antagonists, were more frequent in the atrasentan group than in the placebo group. Hospital admission for heart failure occurred in 47 (3·5%)of 1325 patients in the atrasentan group and 34 (2·6%)of 1323 patients in the placebo group (HR 1·33 [95% CI 0·85–2·07]; p=0·208). 58 (4·4%)patients in the atrasentan group and 52 (3·9%)in the placebo group died (HR 1·09 [95% CI 0·75–1·59]; p=0·65). Interpretation: Atrasentan reduced the risk of renal events in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease who were selected to optimise efficacy and safety. These data support a potential role for selective endothelin receptor antagonists in protecting renal function in patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk of developing end-stage kidney disease. Funding: AbbVie

The Novel in Africa

J . M. Coetzee The Novel in Africa In Coetzee' s story, Elizabeth Costello, an Australian writer, boards an ocean-liner to entertain its passengers by giving talks about literature. Her fellow-entertainer is Emmanuel Egudu, a Nigerian writer lecturing on "The Novel in Africa". In his talk Egudu emphasises his Africanness, a special African identity. In conversation, the two characters discuss the novel in Africa; Elizabeth opines that what distinguishes the African novel is that it is not written for Africans but for foreigners. That fact imposes both restrictions and obligations on the African writer, which Coetee' s story illustrates and explores. What it also exposes is the naivety involved in drawing precipitous conclusions and offering generalisations based on a person's language, profession and ethnic origins.J . M. Coetzee The Novel in Africa In Coetzee' s story, Elizabeth Costello, an Australian writer, boards an ocean-liner to entertain its passengers by giving talks about literature. Her fellow-entertainer is Emmanuel Egudu, a Nigerian writer lecturing on "The Novel in Africa". In his talk Egudu emphasises his Africanness, a special African identity. In conversation, the two characters discuss the novel in Africa; Elizabeth opines that what distinguishes the African novel is that it is not written for Africans but for foreigners. That fact imposes both restrictions and obligations on the African writer, which Coetee' s story illustrates and explores. What it also exposes is the naivety involved in drawing precipitous conclusions and offering generalisations based on a person's language, profession and ethnic origins

Meat Country

Originally published by Granta in 1995, the essay  "Meat Country" by John Maxwell Coetzee is a starting point to think about human-animal relations in the context of food culture. Written by Coeztee during his stay in Austin, Texas, the essay explores American obsession with meat and the likelihood of vegetarianism to become a universal diet.Artykuł "Kraina Mięsa" jest pierwszym polskim tłumaczeniem eseju Johna Maxwella Coetzee'go "Meat Country" opublikowanego w 1995 roku przez czasopisma Granta.

Platero y yo

Resumen Platero y yo se considera habitualmente como un libro para niños. En efecto, dentro de la industria del libro se comercializa como tal. Sin embargo, en esta serie de estampas unidas por la figura del burro Platero hay mucho que un niño impresionable a duras penas podrá soportar y, además, mucho que supera el ámbito de interés de los niños. Por ello, creo más apropiado concebir Platero y yo como las impresiones de la vida de un pueblo, el pueblo natal de Juan Ramón Jiménez, Moguer en Andalucía, tal como es visto por un adulto que, siendo un poeta de gran sensibilidad, no ha perdido el contacto con la inmediatez de la experiencia de la infancia, y registrado con tal delicadeza y contención como es conveniente cuando a nuestro lado, acompañándonos en nuestro recorrido diario, tenemos una audiencia cuya mirada es inocente y cuyas almas son las almas impresionables de los niños. Abstract Platero and I is usually thought of as a children’s book. In the book trade it is certainly marketed as such. Yet in this set of vignettes held together by the figure of the donkey Platero there is much that an impressionable child will find hard to bear, and in addition much that is beyond the range of interest of children. I therefore find it better to conceive of Platero and I as impressions of the life of a town, Juan Ramon Jimenez’s home town of Moguer in Andalusia, as seen by an adult who, being a poet of great sensitivity, has not lost touch with the immediacy of childhood experience, and recorded with such delicacy and restraint as is proper when by our side, accompanying us on our daily round, we have an audience whose gaze is innocent and whose souls are the impressionable souls of children