Description
Book SynopsisA postcolonial study of Polish literature from Romanticism to the twenty-first century For nearly half a century East-Central Europe was part of the Soviet empire and was subject to its "civilizing" mission. Despite its colonial status, this part of the world has escaped the attention of most postcolonial critics and remains a blank spot in global studies of postcolonialism. Dariusz Skorczewski is among the first scholars to apply postcolonial thought to Polish realities, at the same time modifying the theoretical framework developed by other scholars of postcolonialism. Polish Literature and National Identity reveals how the experiences of foreign domination and the history of empire have shaped contemporary Polish culture and society. The book, newly translated from the Polish, introduces Anglophone audiences to the potential implications of postcolonial studies on an understanding of Poland's unique historical position within Europe. Skorczewski explores transformations of national identity as reflected in Polish literature and critical discourse from Romanticism to the twenty-first century. The narrative thus tackles questions surrounding Poland's postcolonial status in contemporary East-CentralEurope, a region where globalization and cosmopolitanism clash with resurgent national sentiments and where predictions about a speedy transition to a postnational era now seem premature. DARIUSZ SKORCZEWSKI is associate professor of Polish literature at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.
Trade Review[T]he author presents a clear and consequential vision of Polish literature and demonstrates rhetorical passion, which is so infrequent in academia. Engaging and original, Skórczewski's publication may stir some controversy, as it is surely one of the most thought-provoking projects in Polish studies available in English that you will have the pleasure to read this year. -- Agnieszka Jezyk * AB IMPERIO *
Table of ContentsPrologue: How It All Began Through the Lens of Humanism, with a View to Transcendence Postcolonialism in Poland National Identity in a Postcolonial Framework Literature as Compensation Confronting the Romantic Legacy The Natives' Exclusion by the Empire's Poet? (Adam Mickiewicz, The Crimean Sonnets) Identity as an Object of Inquiry (Pawel Huelle's Castorp) The (East-)Central European Complex (Andrzej Stasiuk, On the Road to Babadag and Fado) Colonized Poland, Orientalized Poland: Postcolonial Theory and the "Other Europe" Slavic Issues with Identity: Marginal Notes to Maria Janion's Uncanny Slavdom The Melancholia of Borderlands Discourse
