The article reviews the book  Polish Literature From 1918 to 2000: An Anthology,  edited and translated by Michael J. Mikoś

Lanoux, Andrea

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Connecticut CollegeDigital Commons @ Connecticut CollegeSlavic Studies Faculty Publications Slavic Studies4-1-2010(Review) Polish Literature from 1918 to 2000: AnAnthologyAndrea LanouxConnecticut College, alano@conncoll.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/slavicfacpubPart of the Slavic Languages and Societies CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Slavic Studies at Digital Commons @ Connecticut College. It has been accepted forinclusion in Slavic Studies Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Connecticut College. For more information,please contact bpancier@conncoll.edu.The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.Recommended CitationLanoux, Andrea. "Polish Literature From 1918 To 2000: An Anthology. Bloomington." Slavic & East European Journal 54.1 (2010):194-5. Web.194 Slavic and East European JournalMichael J. Mikoý, ed. and trans. Polish Literature ftom 1918 to 2000: An Anthology. Blooming-toil, IN: Slavica Publishers, 2008. Select bibliography. Illustrations. xiv + 490 pp. $44.95(cloth).This is the crowning achievement in a series of six anthologies of Polish literature selected andtranslated by Michael Mikoý, and spanning the medieval period to the recent past. The presentvolume covers Polish literature from 1918 to the year 2000, and serves as a comprehensivecompendium of the broad spectrum of literature produced throughout the century. The book isdivided into the interwar (1918-1939) and postwar (1945-2000) periods, with each part con-taining its own historical introduction and select bibliography. The introductions to both partssketch the political and cultural contexts, listing the major historical events, figures, and worksof that period, while the bibliographies following the two parts point the reader to topics for fu-ture study. Both poetic and prose texts are amply represented here, with many texts given in ex-cerpted form in order to provide a representative sampling. As in the previous volumes, one ofthe most striking features of this book is its breadth of coverage, comprising 62 authors and 218selections in its pages; in this manner, the book conveys a sense of depth of experience throughthe very breadth of artistic scope portrayed.Part 1, Interwar Literature (1918-1939), includes authors and texts from the Skamander,Switch, and Kwadryga literary groups, as well as representatives of the Catastrophist and Ex-pressionist movements. Underground poets during World War II are also included here, effec-tively broadening the historical framework to the end of the war. Prose selections include his-torical, epic, psychological, and neo-realist texts. Polish literature appears here as a worldliterature (as opposed to its nineteenth-century, largely Polish-centric counterpart), treating suchuniversal themes as love, death, nature, village life, and the poetry of the mundane event. Child-hood resonates as a dominant theme in this period, reflecting the rebirth and new infancy of theindependent Polish nation.To give an example of the art of selection in Miko.s's volume, the texts chosen to representJulian Tuwim convey in just ten pages the enormous scope of the poet's oeuvre on such themesas nature, the earthly divine, existential angst, love, the universal connection between all peo-ple, the poet's Jewish roots, and the Holocaust. Also showcased here is the poet's status as anunsurpassed virtuoso of language play and one of the world's best writers for children. Othernotable selections include those for Iltakowicz6wna, Przybog, Czechowicz, Baczyiýski,Nalkowska, Schultz, and Gombrowicz. In several cases Miko§ provides a sample of an authorsfictional writing, followed by the author's response to criticism of the work (e.g., Dabrowska,Gombrowicz).Part 2, Postwar Literature (1945-2000), opens with a powerful introduction that succinctlychronicles the horrific events of WWII and the subsequent Soviet occupation of Polish territory.Mikog also touches upon the role of the Catholic Church in postwar Poland and as a vital sourceof political opposition, as well as the difficult circumstances for artists and writers in this period.He draws explicit attention, both in his introduction (209) and in the biographical sketches of in-dividual authors, to the large number of writers who collaborated with the Soviet regime; at thesame time he illustrates the culture of dissent that characterized this period (and others) of Polishhistory. Some of the more noteworthy selections in part two include Milosz's speech at CatholicUniversity in Lublin and Jelefiski's essay on Tuwim, as well as those for Szymborska, Herling-Grudzifiski, Andrzejewski, Szczypafiski, Swirszczyfiska, and Swietlicki.Mikog includes little from the new generation of writers: only Marcin ýwietlicki and OlgaTokarczuk (both born in 1962) are represented here. Yet even these selections illustrate themajor trends in Polish literature after 1989. Swietlicki's "Attention!" highlights a sense of cyn-icism toward consumer culture and mass media ("When I look into your / eyes-I feel like asalesman, small, / defeated, trying to sell a pile ofjunk / to no one. If you exist-send an email,"310). Tokarczuk, by contrast, distances herself from topics that were treated obsessively in post-Reviews 195war literature while retaining them in iconic form. In her short story "The Wardrobe" she dis-tills the principal themes of post-war literature into just two sentences: "Pushed into a floorcrack, I found a fork with a swastika engraved on the handle. Scraps of a faded newspaper weresticking out from behind some wooden paneling and only one word 'proletarians' could beclearly identified" (467).Among the most positive features of this volume, aside from the translations themselves, arethe numerous explanatory notes, the biographical sketches introducing each writer, and the se-lect bibliographies of texts available in English translation and of critical studies in both Englishand Polish. Together these sections serve to situate the works at hand and to bring history to life.The most noticeable omission is a lack of dates for most works, which would have aided thereader considerably in situating these works in their context of composition (although dates aregiven for the works of a few select authors, such as Baczyhski, Wat, Rymkiewicz, and Milosz).This minor exclusion, however, does not detract from the many virtues and enormous contribu-tion of this volume. Mikoý's anthology reads like a labor of love, and its selections at once bringtogether some of the best known Polish texts of the twentieth century while rendering into En-glish for the first time many underrepresented works. This book promises to satisfy a wide rangeof possible audiences, from students of Polish literature to those who wish to learn more aboutPolish cultural history and the tragic and triumphant Polish experience in the twentieth century.Andrea Lanoux, Connecticut CollegeKarel Michal. Everyday Spooks. Trans. David Short. Prague: Karolinum Press of Charles Uni-versity, 2008. 222 pp. $25.00 (cloth).With a style reminiscent of the great Jaroslav Ha9ek, Karel Michal managed to evade censorsin the 1960s and create a collection of works that, with all of the hidden meanings and under-pinnings, became a literary sensation. As with many other cultural figures, the Soviet occupa-tion forced him to leave his country for Switzerland. He died a mere five years before the Vel-vet Revolution occurred.The first story, "Strength of Character," concerns itself with the wage clerk Mr. Mikul8sek.As a powerless figure in the working world, he flies under the radar with little notice and littleinfluence on his fellow workers. That is, until he meets a mysterious old man who eagerlypasses on to him a ring that can change him into a bear. MikulAgek finds out that by becominga bear, his once powerless position is transformed into one of great weight, as he can intimidateand frighten. The story is representative of those common workers whose world never allowedthem to follow their own paths to success. In the end, Mikul8ek cannot morph back into hishuman form. He is captured and condemned to life in a cage."How Mr. Pimpl Struck Lucky" is the tale of a ýaratice castle caretaker who sees a mysteri-ous apparition, the White Lady. This allegorical story is perhaps the most fascinating in the col-lection. A psychiatrist and a doctor are called to witness Mr. Pimpl's report of the White Lady,but the psychiatrist falls asleep and the doctor is the only one to actually see what Mr. Pimpl hasseen. The White Lady is thus representative of knowledge-Mr. Pimpl is an empirical truthseeker, the doctor has seen the truth, but since the psychiatrist has not seen the ghost (most pur-posefully), the commission of enquiry cannot let the secret out, lest the castle become a pointof pilgrimage. "So you think Pimpl should be suspended?" the commission asks. "If he isn't,we would be harbouring an asp in our bosom," said Dr. Tome6ek (61). Pimpl is transferred andis last seen nailing a picture of Jan Hus to the wall of the Churchvalec castle. Tour groups areforbidden to view the room where the White Lady was last seen.The body of a dead cat is thrown through the window of a reporter's apartment in "The DeadCOPYRIGHT INFORMATIONTITLE: [Polish Literature ftom 1918 to 2000]SOURCE: Slavic East Eur J 54 no1 Spr 2010The magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and itis reproduced with permission. Further reproduction of this article inviolation of the copyright is prohibited.

(Review) Polish Literature from 1918 to 2000: An Anthology

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(Review) Polish Literature from 1918 to 2000: An Anthology

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