‘Old-Fashioned Townspeople’: Michał Głowiński’s autobiographical writing in cultural perspective

Michał Głowiński is the author of autobiographical series including: Czarne sezony, Magdalenka z razowego chleba, Kładka nad czasem, Historia jednej topoli  and Kręgi obcości. His works may be analysed in a number of different ways. One of them is to take a view of middle-class values, frequently presented in his autobiographical stories. As Głowiński writes, he comes from a middle-class Jewish family and his grandparents were merchants, the ones in Victorian middle-class style. Głowiński’s stories contribute greatly to a literary documentation of those forever lost people and times; those real ‘old-fashioned townspeople’.Michał Głowiński is the author of autobiographical series including: Czarne sezony, Magdalenka z razowego chleba, Kładka nad czasem, Historia jednej topoli  and Kręgi obcości. His works may be analysed in a number of different ways. One of them is to take a view of middle-class values, frequently presented in his autobiographical stories. As Głowiński writes, he comes from a middle-class Jewish family and his grandparents were merchants, the ones in Victorian middle-class style. Głowiński’s stories contribute greatly to a literary documentation of those forever lost people and times; those real ‘old-fashioned townspeople’

Dobra perspektywa. Etyczne i religijne aspekty taktyk wizualności w malarstwie Józefa Czapskiego

Being sensitive to human misery and suffering, Józef Czapski in many respects experienced a loss at various moments of his long life (1896-1993). Czapski was an individual painter who worked alone, keeping away from painters’ schools. He was interested in the problem of depicting other people’s pain. Czapski devised his own visual tactic, always associated with tact and “good perspective”. The artist avoided painting religious pictures and the two which he left behind are not his original visions but copies of the oeuvre created by others. The picture “D’apres Rouault” (1982) shows Christ Mocked. The second painting, “St. John the Baptist” (1997) was inspired by Fra Angelico. A characteristic feature of Czapski’s works is asceticism: moderate means of artistic expression, limited details and the focus on colour

The anthropology of mourning in the film language. The case of 33 Scenes from the Life directed by Małgorzata Szumowska

33 sceny z życia to film autobiograficzny Małgorzaty Szumowskiej (2008), inspirowany prawdziwymi wydarzeniami z jej życia – niemal jednoczesną śmiercią matki (pisarki Doroty Terakowskiej) i ojca (dokumentalisty Macieja Szumowskiego). Poprzedził go film dokumentalny A czego tu się bać? (2006), który ukazał stosunek społeczności wiejskiej do problemu śmierci i zmarłych. W filmie 33 sceny z życia przedstawiono inny rodzaj doświadczania śmierci i żałoby. Była to wersja miejska i ateistyczna, kpina z rytuałów związanych ze śmiercią (namaszczenia chorych i pogrzebu). Ich rozbieżność określa nie tylko ateistyczny charakter religijnych rytuałów, ale także, co najważniejsze, język. W 33 scenach posługiwano się idiolektami przedstawicieli krakowskiej inteligencji, z licznymi wulgaryzmami, podczas gdy w filmie dokumentalnym A czego tu się bać? – dialektem wiejskim z odniesieniami do języka religijnego. Celem prezentowanego artykułu jest analiza języka filmu i języka w filmie.The film 33 Scenes from the Life by Małgorzata Szumowska (2008) is an autobiographical film, inspired by real incidents which happened in her life – the almost simultaneous death of her mother (a writer Dorota Terakowska) and father (a documentary film-maker Maciej Szumowski). It was preceded by a documentary film A czego się tu bać? (What to be afraid of?) (2006), which showed the attitude of the rural community to the problem of death and the deceased. In the film 33 Scenes another kind of experience of death and mourning is represented. It is the urban and atheistic version, a mockery of the rituals connected with the death (the anointing of the sick and a funeral). Their disparity is determined not only by their religious versus atheistic character, but also, most importantly, the language. In 33 Scenes the idiolect of the Cracovian intelligentsia is used, with numerous vulgarisms, whereas in the documentary film A czego tu się bać? − the village idiolect with references to religious language. The aim of my essay is the analysis of the film language and the language in the film

Utrata języka. Próba empatycznej lektury patografii osób po udarach mózgu

Source literature uses the term pathography to define a text about suffering and illness written from a patient’s perspective. There are three purposes of pathographies: they allow their authors to make their lives more coherent, i.e. continuous and meaningful, they help them understand what their bodies experienced during illness, and they make them discover how to stimulate the body to deal with its effects. There is a specific type of pathographies written by stroke survivors. The effects of a stroke include paresis of the body and aphasia which never fully disappear. Patients talk of the loss of previous identity or a transformation caused by the illness.Source literature uses the term pathography to define a text about suffering and illness written from a patient’s perspective. There are three purposes of pathographies: they allow their authors to make their lives more coherent, i.e. continuous and meaningful, they help them understand what their bodies experienced during illness, and they make them discover how to stimulate the body to deal with its effects. There is a specific type of pathographies written by stroke survivors. The effects of a stroke include paresis of the body and aphasia which never fully disappear. Patients talk of the loss of previous identity or a transformation caused by the illness

Animacja. Rekurs w stronę teorii i praktyczne implikacje

Animation has no single definition. The aim of my essay is to put in order some concepts and present three scholarly ideas of animation, which are used in a culture sector, sport and physical culture, social and political activity and also in parish and church actions. Animation is a social and cultural phenomenon as well as a dynamic process of formation of social relations, always connected with the culture. Thus, it is located at the meeting point of social and cultural work. The animating practice is not uniform. The tools and methods in animation are diverse and they depend on people, their needs and desires, cultural traditions, systems of values, lifestyles and finally, social and economic conditions. For these reasons one method of animating cannot be pointed out

„(…) przez Wierzenicę będę jechał, a nigdy przez Wiedeń”. O perle na Szlaku Kościołów Drewnianych wokół Puszczy Zielonka

In the essay ‘… przez Wierzenicę będę jechał, a nigdy przez Wiedeń’ a new tourist track has been described. The track includes 12 antique wooden churches of Puszcza Zielonka (the Green Wilderness) in the Wielkopolska Province. The project has been funded by the Integrated Regional Operational Programme. The unquestionable pearl on the new track is the St. Nicolas Church in Wierzenica regarded as one of the oldest churches in the Wielkopolska region. There are a lot of valuable pieces of fine arts there donated by Cieszkowski Family. The Poznan Archdiocese’s Archives set the church as a good pattern to be followed for it keeps on renovating and redecorating its relics. Przemysław Kompf, the parish-priest of the church, is considered to be a really good organizer and an animator for social and cultural life in the area

„Katastrofa materialna” we wspomnieniach przedstawicielek polskiej arystokracji i ziemiaństwa z Kresów

“Material catastrophe” in the memories of three women – members of the Polish aristocracy and landed gentry from the Polish Eastern BorderlandsHistory has treated cruelly the families of landed gentry and aristocracy who lived in the Polish Eastern Borderland – the eastern provinces of the Second Polish Republic (Kresy). This essay focuses on memories of women, members of the Polish aristocracy and landed gentry from the kresy, published in the following books: “We and Our Homes” (My i nasze Siedliska) by Matylda née Windisch-Graetz Sapieżyna, “Times, Places, People. Memories from the Eastern Borderlands, 1893-1946” (Czasy, miejsca, ludzie. Wspomnienia z Kresów Wschodnich 1893-1946) by Helena née Jaczynowska Rothowa, and ”My Life, My Times” (Moje życie, mój czas) by Maria née Zdziechowska Sapieżyna. Their memories are not a full historical picture including the complex political and historic context, instead they concentrate on the precise fates of their families in the kresy (though their presence there was called, not without a reason, a kind of ‘colonization’). The three authoresses present themselves as victims of great politics and changes happening beyond their control. Thus, these three (auto)biographical narrations enter the canon of literature about the eastern frontier and correspond with the canon of ‘the esthetics of loss.’ the analysis demonstrates that in all the books under consideration particular attention has been devoted to the material sphere of everyday life because the female biographers wanted to describe their world in the Kresy in detail and at the same time show how much they had lost

"Zamień moją żałobę w taniec". O narracji filmowej Wima Wendersa

Pina, a fi lm (2011) directed by Wim Wenders, falls outside any simple genre classifi cation. It may be treated as a documentary only, but it can also be regarded as an artistic fi lm because it talks about artists – dancers from the Tanztheater in Wuppertal (Germany) and their choreographies. Wenders uses artistic means of expression in the montage of scenes and particular takes. A three-dimensional technique allows him to enter the world of dance and show its beauty as well as the physicality of dancers. Wenders ncludes four Pina Bausch’s choreographies in the fi lm: Frühlingsopfer, Café Müller, Kontakthof,and Vollmond. The main themes of the fi lm are death, loss and loneliness, which also appear in all Pina Bausch’s choreographies. Work on the fi lm was a kind of “going through mourning”, both for the director and the dancers

Fenomen pamięci. O trudnościach badań narracji autobiograficznych o utracie

Celem szkicu jest wskazanie niektórych problemów metodologicznych występujących podczas badania narracji autobiograficznych o utracie. Badaniom poddane zostały teksty wydane i opracowane literacko. Ich autorami byli ludzie słowa (pisarze i dziennikarze). Analiza poszczególnych narracji pozwala przybliżyć się do istoty doświadczenia utraty, doświadczenia powszechnego, ale bardzo zindywidualizowanego w formie i intensywności jego przeżycia. W polu semantycznym „utraty” znajdują się: śmierć bliskich (zwłaszcza matki), zmagania z chorobą, utrata domu, wygnanie. W badaniach tekstów autobiograficznych ważne są dwie kategorie teoretyczne: narracja i tożsamość (szczególnie tożsamość narracyjna). Doświadczenie utraty ma wpływ na spójność tożsamości i formę narracji. Osobnym problemem jest fenomen pamięci i mechanizmy jej funkcjonowania z manipulowaniem (np. autofikcja, konfabulacja) i zapominaniem. Badania nad fenomenem utraty powinny być interdyscyplinarne