SLAVIC 175: Between East and West: A Critical Mapping of Polish Culture
Our classes will meet Tuesdays 6-8pm. The course is open to all interested students - there are no caps and petitions. Please email me if you have any questions about the course: akremer@fas.harvard.edu. I will be happy to talk!
Course goals:
Learning about the culture of Poland and East-Central Europe from the 10th to the 21st century. Studying how cultural memory of historical events is formed and contested in neighboring countries. Understanding how the past influences today's culture and politics in the region. Discussing the question of oppression, colonization, and minorities, as illustrated by local examples from the region. Critical analysis of Polish film and literature, including works of several Nobel Prize winners.
Course format:
Our two-hour meetings will be a combination of lectures and class discussions.
Typical enrollees:
No prior knowledge of Polish culture is required. This is an introductory course. It is primarily designed for undergraduate students, but it is also open to graduate students who specialize in cultures and fields other than Polish literature. Readings and grading are tailored to different student levels (undergraduate and graduate) and I am always happy to talk if you have any concerns. Students who took the course in the past included college students (from sophomores to seniors) and graduate students from the GSAS and Law School. Let me know if you have any questions!
When is course typically offered?
Occasionally: every two years, sometimes every year.
What can students expect from you as an instructor?
In my lectures, I use computer presentations. When we discuss texts and films, I help to place them in historical contexts and I guide students' reading and thinking. We often look at specific excerpts together. I like it when students ask unexpected questions.
Assignments and grading:
Class preparation and participation 20%; Presentation 10%; Four short assignments (two-page essays) 35%; Final paper 35%. Please see the syllabus below for details. I allow my students to revise or resubmit essays when needed.
Sample reading list:
Please see the syllabus below for our tentative reading list in Fall 2024.
Past syllabus:
Please see the tentative Fall 2024 syllabus below.
Absence and late work policies:
No absences will be allowed except in unusual circumstances, and with an excuse (medical, religious, family). Please let me know in advance if you have to miss a class. In most cases I will meet with you during my office hours in the following week to make up for the class you have missed. Late submissions will be marked down. Please contact me in case of emergency. See the syllabus below for details.
Note:
Some readings and films will include disturbing content. Please help us create an atmosphere of mutual respect and sensitivity. Whenever you have any concerns about our assignments or discussions, please email me.
Optional readings are not obligatory and undergraduate students should not worry about them. Graduate students may find these optional readings to be useful for their research and papers. They should read most of these texts.
Tentative syllabus Fall 2024:
09/03/2024
BEGINNINGS: BETWEEN EAST AND WEST
Patrice M. Dabrowski, Poland: The First Thousand Years, pp. 5-15 (pdf/online edition in library reserves).
Czesław Miłosz, The History of Polish Literature, pp. 1-16 (pdf/library reserves/COOP).
Emiliano Ranocchi, “In search of origins: Bogurodzica,” in The Routledge Companion to Polish Literature, pp. 9-17 (pdf/online edition in library reserves).
Audio recording: Bogurodzica (link).
Optional: Maria Janion, “Uncanny Slavdom,” trans. Marta Figlerowicz, PMLA vol. 138, no. 1 (2023): 112-125 (pdf)
When does Polish history begin? What are the first Polish literary works? How do we decide what is “Polish”? What enters the canon of national literature? What alternative beginnings can we imagine? What was the role of Christianization in that region in the Middle Ages? In what sense is the song Bogurodzica (Mother of God) from between East and West? Why was it so differently dated? Please read the texts in the suggested order, paying special attention to the poem (included in the Companion).
09/10/24
GOLDEN AGE? POLISH-LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH
Jan Kochanowski, select laments, trans. Stanisław Barańczak and Seamus Heaney (pdf).
Czesław Miłosz, The History of Polish Literature, pp. 25-31, 48-49, skim: 56-80 (focusing on poems from pp. 60-67, 75-79) (pdf/library reserves/COOP).
Serhii Plokhy, The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine, pp. 63-79 (pdf/library reserves/COOP).
The tradition of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is frequently evoked today, and especially in Polish memory it is associated with the Golden Age of Polish culture, as exemplified by Renaissance poetry of Jan Kochanowski (please read his poems carefully). In this class we will compare the standard Polish narrative about the union with Lithuania and then the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with a more nuanced narrative from The Gates of Europe, paying special attention to Lithuanians and Ukrainians. We will also discuss the questions of religion and serfdom in Poland-Lithuania.
09/17/24
UKRAINE IN THE 17TH CENTURY
Serhii Plokhy, The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine, pp. 80-84, 97-107 (pdf/library reserves/COOP).
Czesław Miłosz, The History of Polish Literature, pp. 111-119 (library reserves/COOP).
Henryk Sienkiewicz, With Fire and Sword, trans. W. S. Kuniczak, chapters 1-3 (pdf) (for an older translation see this link).
Film: Ogniem i mieczem (With Fire and Sword), dir. Jerzy Hoffman (streaming on Canvas starting on 09/11 - see Panopto).
Optional: Jan Sowa, “Spectres of Sarmatism,” in Being Poland, pp. 30-45 (pdf)
Amelia Glaser, “Bohdan Khmelnytsky as Protagonist: Between Hero and Villain," in Stories of Khmelnytsky, pp. 2-20 (pdf)
In this class, we will see what happens in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th century, focusing on the Cossack Uprising, as well as other wars, and the development of Polish Sarmatian and Baroque culture. Polish perception of that time, and of Ukraine, was long shaped by one of the most popular 19th-century historical novels, With Fire and Sword. The first chapters should give you a taste of Sienkiewicz’s writing style and presentation of different characters. Why was his work so appealing to Poles? Why do you think he chose that time – and Ukraine? Who do you think is “us” and “them” in these chapters? How is Ukraine presented? How does the film differ from the book? It is not the greatest film, but it offers an interesting example of how relations between two cultures can be revised. Please confront these sources with the history textbook.
09/24/24
FRANKISM AND THE 18TH CENTURY
Czesław Miłosz, The History of Polish Literature, pp. 153-155, 159-166 (library reserves/COOP).
Olga Tokarczuk, Books of Jacob, trans. Jennifer Croft: Prologue, The Book of Fog, ca. 100 pages (pdf and map/ online edition in library reserves).
Optional: Jay Michaelson, The Heresy of Jacob Frank: From Jewish Messianism to Esoteric Myth, pp. 1-45 (pdf and pdf).
As we move to the 18th century, rather than focusing on the late Baroque and Enlightenment culture, we will pay attention to the story of Jacob Frank and explain the ideas of the Frankist movement, the interest in which was recently revived by Tokarczuk’s Nobel-Prize winning novel. We will talk more about Jews in the Commonwealth and the later influence of Frankism on Polish culture. The first part of Tokarczuk’s novel, Book of Fog, does not focus on Frank yet (feel free to read the second one, too, if you are interested) but it sets the scene and background. Tokarczuk’s presentation of Ukraine in the 18th century is often compared and contrasted with Sienkiewicz – how does it differ?
Assignment 1: Please compare the presentation of Ukrainian lands in the opening parts of Sienkiewicz’s and Tokarczuk’s books. What actions do they describe? What impressions are created? What places and characters do they focus on? Please locate these areas on maps. Please write ca. 2 pages and submit your text to Canvas.
10/01/24
BELARUSIAN FOLKLORE AND ROMANTICISM
Czesław Miłosz, The History of Polish Literature, pp. 166-169, 195-203, 208-216 (library reserves/COOP - please pay special attention to the poem "Romanticism" pp. 211-213).
Roman Koropeckyj, Adam Mickiewicz: The Life of a Romantic, pp. 1-9 (pdf).
Adam Mickiewicz, Forefathers’ Eve, trans. Charles S. Kraszewski, Part II, pp. 145-170 (pdf/library reserves).
Please read about political changes, the end of the Commonwealth, Romanticism in European culture, and the first part of Mickiewicz’s life in today’s Belarus. The ritual of Forefathers’ Eve is often presented as an East Slavic version of Halloween – in class, we will study in detail Part II of Mickiewicz’s fragmentary drama, devoted to that ritual.
10/08/24
POLAND, LITHUANIA, AND THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
Czesław Miłosz, The History of Polish Literature, pp. 216-227 (library reserves/COOP).
Roman Koropeckyj, Adam Mickiewicz: The Life of a Romantic, pp. 49-55 (pdf).
Adam Mickiewicz, Forefathers’ Eve, trans. Charles S. Kraszewski, Part III, pp. 171-217 (pdf/library reserves).
Film: Lawa, dir. Tadeusz Konwicki (streaming on Canvas starting on 10/02 - see Panopto) especially min. 3:40-8:30 (prologue), and 38:40-41 (song from p. 202) and 41-55:15 (monologue from pp. 206-217).
Please read more about political events and Mickiewicz’ life and work, including his imprisonment in Vilnius (as detailed in Koropeckyj’s text). How and why does he transform this event into a piece of literature? What interpretation of Polish history does it offer, and what views of Russia? What does it tell us about Polish culture that Forefathers’ Eve remains its most important drama? Please see Konwicki’s film adaptation (poetic and fragmentary) of all parts of the drama.
10/15/24
GREAT EMIGRATION
Czesław Miłosz, The History of Polish Literature, pp. 227-230 (library reserves/COOP).
Adam Mickiewicz, Pan Taduesz, trans. Bill Johnston, pp. 1-9, 407-423 (pdf).
Film: Pan Tadeusz, dir. Andrzej Wajda (streaming on TUBI – see link from library reserves).
Optional: Brigita Speičytė, “The Culture of Memory: Adam Mickiewicz’s Pan Tadeusz,” in The Routledge Companion to Polish Literature, pp. 115-128 (pdf/online edition in library reserves)
Pan Tadeusz differs a lot from Forefathers Eve. How can we reconcile these two different visions of Mickiewicz’s homeland in the 19th century? What was his homeland? How does one write about homeland as an émigré? What was the Lithuanian perception of Mickiewicz’s work? What historical events are referred to in Jankiel’s concert? How different is Polish memory of Napoleon’s 1812 campaign from the Russian one? Please watch the film adaptation of Pan Tadeusz and then study two excerpts from the book – the film will help you locate the second one, taking place at the very end of the narrative.
Assignment 2: What was Mickiewicz’s relation with Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian, and Jewish cultures and languages? How were they understood in his times? Where did he take his inspiration from, what lands and people did he describe? Please write ca. 2 pages and submit your assignment to Canvas before our class begins.
10/22/24
CITY IN THE 19TH CENTURY
Brian Porter-Szűcs, Poland in the Modern World: Beyond Martyrdom, pp. 6-36 (online access in library reserves/COOP).
Czesław Miłosz, The History of Polish Literature, pp. 281-286, 322-329, 369-371 (library reserves/COOP).
Film: Promised Land, dir. Andrzej Wajda (paid access on FANDOR/DVD on reserve in Lamont).
This class offers a different look at everyday life, politics, and social protests in the Russian Empire in the long 19th century, focusing on industrialization, urban life, and exploitation of workers in multicultural Łódź, a city located in central Poland and central Europe, and yet at the periphery of the Russian Empire. Wajda’s film is an adaptation of the 19th-century novel by Władysław Reymont (who was another Polish Nobel Prize winner in literature).
10/29/24
“JEWS, UKRAINIANS, AND OTHER POLES”
Brian Porter-Szűcs, Poland in the Modern World: Beyond Martyrdom, pp. 70-88, 90-101, 126-141 (online access in library reserves/COOP).
Czesław Miłosz, The History of Polish Literature, pp. 380-384, 429-430 (library reserves/COOP).
Bruno Schulz, “Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass,” trans. Celina Wieniawska, pp. 239-268 (pdf).
Zuzanna Ginczanka, selected poems, trans. Alex Braslavsky (pdf).
This class, the title of which comes from a chapter of Brian Porter-Szűcs’s textbook, explores the creation of an independent Polish state after World War I, its territorial claims, large ethnic and national minorities, and their growing discrimination. We will discuss the place of different Jewish authors on Polish literary scene, focusing on Schulz and Ginczanka, who came from Galicia and Volhynia respectively (today’s Ukraine), and their evolving status in the Polish canon.
11/05/24
WILNO/VILNA/VILNIUS
Czesław Miłosz, Native Realm, pp. 54-107 (pdf) and select poems (pdf).
Lucy Dawidowicz, From that Place and Time, pp. 3-8, 23-27, 51-76, 101-119, 186-203 (pdf).
Czesław Miłosz and Tomas Venclova, “A Dialogue about a City” 99-144 (pdf).
In this class we confront Miłosz’s memoir of his life in interwar Vilnius, with Dawidowicz’s Jewish account from 1938-1939, and Venclova’s postwar Lithuanian perspective. What can we learn from such comparisons? What was the role of the city for Polish, Yiddish and Lithuanian cultures? What are the links and analogies between Miłosz and Mickiewicz?
Assignment 3: How do these three presentations of Vilnius differ? What can we learn from juxtaposing such different accounts? You can also refer to Mickiewicz’s Vilnius – or walk along some historic streets on Google Maps and see compare these recent photos with Miłosz’s and others’ descriptions of cityscape. Please write around 2 pages and submit to Canvas.
11/12/24
WORLD WAR II AND THE HOLOCAUST
Brian Porter-Szűcs, Poland in the Modern World: Beyond Martyrdom, pp. 144-185 (online access in library reserves/COOP).
Wisława Szymborska, select poems, see trans. by Clare Cavanagh and Stanisław Barańczak (pdf) and Joanna Trzeciak (pdf).
Irena Klepfisz, "The journey home" and "A few words in the mother tongue" (pdf).
In this class we will discuss German and Soviet occupation of Poland, and different wartime experiences of various citizens of prewar Poland, focusing on victimhood, complicity, and resistance. We will pay special attention to the Holocaust and the evolving and contested memories of that time. We will study in detail several postwar Polish poems about the war and the Holocaust by Wisława Szymborska, as well as several English-Yiddish texts by an American author, Irena Klepfisz.
11/19/24
THE END OF THE WAR? MIGRATION AND DEPORTATION
Brian Porter-Szűcs, Poland in the Modern World: Beyond Martyrdom, pp. 186-223 (online access in library reserves/COOP).
Marcin Zaremba, Entangled in Fear, pp. 38-60, 69-89, 175-180 (pdf, pdf, pdf).
Film: Róża, dir. Wojciech Smarzowski (streaming on Canvas starting on 11/13).
Optional: Film: Ashes and Diamonds, dir. Andrzej Wajda (Kanopy via Harvard).
Did the war finish for everyone in Europe on May 8, 1945? What was happening in Poland throughout 1945 and 1946? What new borders were drawn and who was defined as Polish? How did migration enforced at that time – to and from Poland – shape postwar Polish society? A recent film Róża shows what the war, incoming Red Army, and the early postwar period could mean for the ethnic group of Masurians in today’s northern Poland, and especially for women.
Assignment 4: Postwar resettlements, deportations, and changes viewed through the lens of Róża (Rose) and/or Zaremba's and Porter's texts – please write around 2 pages.
11/26/24
COMMUNISM AND NATIONALISM IN POSTWAR POLAND
Brian Porter-Szűcs, Poland in the Modern World: Beyond Martyrdom, pp. 231-252, 285-322 (online access in library reserves/COOP).
Film: Man of Iron, dir. Andrzej Wajda (streaming on Canvas starting on 11/20).
Optional: Shana Penn, Solidarity's Secret: The Women who Defeated Communism in Poland (online access in library reserves).
In this class we will discuss the evolution of Polish culture and society under communism, paying special attention to the nationalist rhetoric of the state as well as the symbols used by protest movements, focusing on Wajda’s film about Solidarity, as watched from today’s perspective.
12/03/24
POLAND AND UKRAINE FROM THE 1990S UP TO THE PRESENT
Adam Zagajewski, “Two Cities,” trans. Lillian Vallee, pp. 3-68 (pdf).
Adam Zagajewski, “To Go To Lvov,” trans. Renata Gorczynski (pdf).
Eugenisz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki, selected poems, trans. Bill Johnston (pdf).
Yuri Andrukhovych, My Final Territory, “The City-Ship” 64-69 (pdf) and “A Land of Dreams” 125-132 (pdf).
Optional: Bronisław Bakuła, “Colonial and Postcolonial Aspects of Polish Borderlands Studies: An Outline” Teksty Drugie, no. 1 (2014): 96-123 (pdf).
In our final class we will discuss how Ukraine and the “Borderlands” are presented in contemporary Polish literature and how Polish-Ukrainian political relations have evolved between the fall of communism and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, taking into account the influence of the Giedroyc doctrine on Poland’s foreign policy and cultural programs.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Preparation and participation:
Please come prepared to each class and please come on time. No absences will be allowed except in unusual circumstances, and with an excuse (medical, religious). Please let me know in advance if you have to miss a class. Please do not use smartphones and other electronic devices during class. You may use laptops, if you wish, to access pdfs and take notes – but you cannot use the Internet in class and you should close all other programs. Please remember that one can see if a student is reading something unrelated to class discussion – it distracts other students and will affect your grade. Before each class please study the assigned texts and films, take notes, and think of quotes, facts, observations from our readings that you would like to discuss in class.
If you require academic accommodations of any sort, please contact the Disability Access Office (DAO). Accommodations are not retroactive. Please request accommodations as early as possible, since they may take time to implement.
Readings:
When preparing for each class, please pay special attention to literary texts and films. We will discuss them together in class. Readings from history textbooks and Miłosz’s textbook are there as a background, to help you locate literary texts or film plots in historical contexts, understand their role, and get a broader perspective. You do not have to focus on all details from the textbooks, but do read them. Some of those historical contexts (but not all – plus some other) will also be discussed in my lectures. My comments below the reading lists for each class should give you an idea what questions will appear in lectures and class discussions.
Optional readings:
Optional readings are not obligatory and undergraduate students should not worry about them. Some ideas from these readings will be covered in my lectures. If there are graduate students specializing in other fields or cultures who would like to join this Polish survey course, they are very welcome to do so – and they may find these optional readings to be useful for their research and papers. They should read most of these texts.
Assignments:
1 presentation – each student should prepare one 10-minute presentation on a topic related to our class and discussed with me early during the semester. Please think what problem you would like to research on your own, it can be a discussion of an optional reading/film, or a presentation on a new topic, e.g. the ongoing crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border, Jewish culture in Poland today, other texts on WWII and the Holocaust, Poles in the German Empire, Livonian war, Polish-Czech relations, Enlightenment in Poland, Polish emigres after WWII, Ginczanka’s biography, Ukrainian school in Polish Romanticism. I will be happy to hear what other ideas you have. Please discuss the topic and date with me during the first two weeks of the semester.
4 short essays – as marked above in the syllabus, there are 4 written assignments (2 pages, Times New Roman, 12 pt., double spaced - up to 700 words) which should be submitted to Canvas before the beginning of a given class. They should be written on your own and represent your thinking only.
For max. 2 of these assignments you may also choose an alternative path: use ChatGPT to generate essays, paste your question and the answer to a doc, and then provide an extensive commentary on the essay, as if you were an instructor grading a student paper and giving them feedback. What is good about it, what is bad, point out all mistakes, big generalizations, etc. This commentary of min. 200 words should be entirely your own. Please decide at the outset which path you choose and mark it clearly. You cannot use ChatGPT if you write your own essay.
Final paper will be due in the exam period on December 13.
Undergraduate students will write papers of 8-10 pages (Times New Roman, 12 pt., double spaced) on a topic of their choice related to the course, which they will further research. It may be an extension of class presentations. This assignment may also take form of a literary travel guide. I am happy to help you find the right topic and sources – please come to my office hours well in advance, in November at the latest.
Graduate students should write longer research papers. Please come to my office hours to identify a topic/problem/author that you would like to write about.
The Harvard College Honor Code:
Members of the Harvard College community commit themselves to producing academic work of integrity – that is, work that adheres to the scholarly and intellectual standards of accurate attribution of sources, appropriate collection and use of data, and transparent acknowledgement of the contribution of others to their ideas, discoveries, interpretations, and conclusions. Cheating on exams or problem sets, plagiarizing or misrepresenting the ideas or language of someone else as one’s own, falsifying data, or any other instance of academic dishonesty violates the standards of our community, as well as the standards of the wider world of learning and affairs.
Academic Integrity and Honor Policy:
You can discuss your final project with other students, but you need to make sure that your paper represents your own work and approach. All ideas that come from someone else need to be properly acknowledged. You can always consult all readings from the course. All citations and quotations must be properly acknowledged. See Harvard Guide to Using Sources (available at https://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/) for details. In your papers please include and sign the statement “I affirm my awareness of the standards of the Harvard College Honor Code.”
Grading:
Your final grade will be calculated as follows:
Class preparation and participation 20%
Presentation 10%
Short assignments 35%
Final paper 35%
You will get written feedback on all papers, but I am always happy to talk more about your work – please email me or come to my office hours.
Late submissions will be marked down one half-grade per half day (e.g. A to A- for being 12 hours late, A to B+ for being 24 hours late, etc.).
Books:
All readings will be accessible online through Canvas – as pdfs, as electronic library reserves (one scan available for 3 hours), and as e-books accessible online, linked through library reserves.
I highly recommend buying or borrowing from the COOP one book: Czesław Miłosz’s The History of Polish Literature (the 1983 edition) – we will use it a lot, it may be a helpful resource for the future, and you may want to browse it and read more chapters on your own. You may also look for cheap used copies in other bookstores. I will provide pdfs for the first two classes, but our later readings will be available only through 3-hour library reserves. It would be much better to have your own copy. Let me know if you have any problems with getting it or other concerns. The book will be reserved at the COOP, and will be accessible under this link.
I also recommend buying or borrowing the following books from the COOP, for a better reading experience (compared with the pdfs I provide) – but this is up to you:
Adam Mickiewicz, Forefathers' Eve, trans. Charles Kraszewski.
Brian Porter-Szűcs, Poland in the Modern World: Beyond Martyrdom (available also as e-book in our library).
Serhii Plokhy, The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine.
Olga Tokarczuk, Books of Jacob, trans. Jennifer Croft.
Other histories of Poland and Polish literature that you may want to consult are available as e-books in our library:
Patrice M. Dabrowski, Poland: The First Thousand Years
The Routledge Companion to Polish Literature, ed. by Tomasz Bilczewski, Stanley Bill, Magdalena Popiel
Being Poland: A New History of Polish Literature and Culture since 1918, ed. by Tamara Trojanowska, Joanna Niżyńska, Przemysław Czapliński
Films:
All films will be accessible online. The majority of films will be streamed on Canvas (in Panopto) for one week before a given class. Pan Tadeusz is available on TUBI. Promised Land is available on FANDOR (commercial streaming service). DVDs with all films will also be put on reserve in Lamont, where you can watch them at any time (except for the weeks when a given film is streamed in Panopto). Let me know if you have any questions or have trouble accessing these films.
Course Summary:
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