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Copyright of Horizons of Politics / Horyzonty Polityki is the property of Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Prace Filologiczne. Literaturoznawstwo is the property of University of Warsaw and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article focuses on two Polish literary scholars, Manfred Kridl and Wiktor Weintraub, who, after leaving Poland during World War II, lived and worked in exile in the United States of America. In order to describe their postwar activities and mutual relations, attention is paid to the published and unpublished works of the two scholars, their correspondence, and other documents deposited in library archives. Despite the difference in age, Kridl and Weintraub had much in common in their academic pursuits: as historians of Polish literature they both had similar interests and both worked as professors at prestigious American universities (Kridl at Columbia and Weintraub at Harvard). These facts, as well as the scholars' attempts to collaborate with each other, are among the topics covered in the article. The other issues discussed here include the contrast between the two scholars, especially Kridl's critical evaluation of Weintraub's research efforts and Kridl's concern for literary theory to which Weintraub seemed indifferent. In assessing their postwar scholarly activities, the argument is presented that despite the adverse circumstances of the life in exile both Kridl and Weintraub were remarkably successful. Their highest achievements lay in Polish literary history and in strengthening Polish studies in America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the relationship between Edward W. Said's thoughts and a specific philological tradition in the context of the reception of postcolonial theory in Polish literary research. The author demonstrates that philology as conceptualized by Said can support postcolonial studies as well as constitute an inspiring tradition for contemporary literary studies. In the first part of the article, the author outlines the changes in the the American humanist's attitude to philology. In Orientalism, Said criticizes Renan's scientistic practice, but in all his works he highly values this discipline and perceives it as an emancipatory, humanistic activity that transcends the dynamics of knowledge and power. The author of the article shows that the ideas of Giambattista Vico and Erich Auerbach are extremely important for the Palestinian-American critic. The next part of the article demonstrates that Said uses methods characteristic of philology in his works, often in spite of the methodological declarations attributed to him (discourse theory). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The audiosphere is a capacious, ambiguous category, often freely used in contextual research. It is a term that has long been present in literary studies, but is used quite freely. The aim of this article will be an in-depth look at the ways of using the word 'audiosphere' and, finally, an attempt to specify research meanings useful in the context of literary studies. The terminology that organizes the sound order of a language exists in the study of literature in two modes. Each mode represents a different path in the development of the field of meanings of the audiosphere category. The first of them was developed by literary researchers as early as the 1980s, where the audiosphere was identified with the audial medium of presenting a literary text, i.e. with singing, recitation or speech. The second mode was subordinated to contemporary influences of cultural anthropology. The creation of sound studies and the so-called sound anthropology resulted in a flood of new meanings of the word 'sound', as well as the need to develop cognitively useful descriptive categories. In this context, the audiosphere is a very Polish term. It is mainly used by Polish researchers, strictly distinguishing it from the soundscape category, which is more common in Western studies. In the article, the two models outlined above will be confronted with each other, and the purpose of this juxtaposition will be to cause shifts in terms of meanings. On the basis of a relatively outlined definition, the basic features of the audiosphere within literary research will be listed. This will make it possible to clarify which specific features of this category are useful in the context of literary studies and which should be rejected. Ultimately, it is about working out the possibility of creating a model of audial interpretation of a poetic text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to present the key post-Soviet generational conflict in the Russian literary field, which has significantly influenced the present shape of the field. The most important mechanisms and stages of the discussed generational change, its institutional background and the most important actors of these processes will be highlighted. For the purpose of the text, manifestos, critical essays, interviews, polemics and other forms of expression on (around) literary issues published in literary magazines such as "Novy mir", "Kontinent", "Oktyabr", "Znamya", "Voprosy literatury", "Ural", "Literaturnaya gazeta", "Literaturnaya Rossiya", "NG Ex Libris" and the daily press, which is not profiled in literary terms. The basis of the research is the perspective of the social history of literature, based on two important theoretical approaches to the relationship between literature and social reality: the concept of the sociology of the literary field by Pierre Bourdieu and the concept of aesthetics as politics by Jacques Rancière. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study attempts to define the genre features of romance based on the currently available research findings, but also taking into account a broader perspective of different meanings which the term assumes both in Polish and in the main European languages. Wierzbicka refers to English studies, as well as to Polish studies because these two languages have developed a similar distinction between romance and novel. The basic assumption adopted in this paper concerns the equivocal use of this term in literary studies, which obscures the picture of the history of literature. Therefore, the history of the term is discussed, which has made it possible to distinguish six different meanings of the term. The first, oldest meaning is specific to the era in which it appeared (like many mediaeval terms), and concerns works written in Romanesque vernacular languages as opposed to mediaeval Latin. It is not a name of a genre. The second meaning has been distinguished in two variants. Generally, it refers to a literary genre that is characterised by an adventurous love story and a protagonist who on principle is a lover. Variants of romance include different textual forms: in the 16th century, it was a poem of a specific narrative structure different from the epic, and in the 17th century it was (mostly) prose. The third meaning begins to dominate in the 18th century, and is an extension of the second meaning of the word "romance" in its second variant, namely, it covers all fictional prose of varied literary value. The fourth meaning was distinguished by English and Polish literary scholars of the second half of the 20th century, who undertook the 18th-century practice of juxtaposing "romance" and "novel". They recognised "romance" as a heterogeneous epic form characterised by the extraordinary and fairytale character of narrative fiction. The fifth meaning of the word "romance" refers to a lyrical genre. The sixth, contemporary meaning refers to popular literature, and specifically to a narrative genre that tells a love story. Each of these six meanings illuminates a different fragment of the literary reality. In this context, the question of which of them would be the most functional in literary research becomes all the more important. Wierzbicka argues that the second meaning, similar to the sixth meaning, will allow this term to be used with reference to all literature, without the risk of ambiguity. This is because the basic generic determinant of the second meaning coincides with the contemporary reading consciousness and today's use of the word, and thus it has a practical dimension. The following were considered genre features of romance: love story, which can optionally abound in adventures; a specific construction of the hero or heroine as one in love; the narrative structure consisting of many actions concentrated around parallel characters; prosaic or verse form; entertainment function (formerly also didactic). Historical variants of the genre are also presented, including the mediaeval chivalric romance, comic-ironic romance, 17th-century romance, sentimental romance, realistic romance. The proposed definition also enables a new look at the historicoliterary reality, especially of the mediaeval and early-modern period, whose narrative works escape the existing nomenclature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Litteraria Polonica is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of the paper, which brings together the results of a pretiminary research, is to provide an overview of selected issues and textual practices related to indirect translation in the Polish-Italian intercultural exchange in the 20th century. In Polish literary translation studies, the significance of indirect translation has been seriously undervalued, especially in research on literary translation from Polish as a source language. Many classical works prominent of Polish authors (e.g. Witold Gombrowicz, Czesław Miłosz, Stanisław Lem) were published in Italy as a result of indirect translation via one of the "central" languages, usually French or English, or by a bilingual team of translators. After discussing main terminological and methodological issues, the study presents two "microhistorical" examples - La casa delle donne: Zofia Nałkowska's Dom kobiet translated in 1930 by Sibilla Aleramo via intermediary translations into French and Italian, and Witold Gombrowicz's Ferdydurke, translated into Italian in 1961 by Sergio Miniussi via French and Spanish, under the supervision of Konstanty A. Jeleński. These two cases, exemplify different text typologies and practical approaches to the translation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the philosophical aspects in the works of Feodor Dostoevsky. The author notes that Dostoevsky's writings touch upon issues and key questions from the realms of human anthropology, religion and ethics, and he recognizes that, within those works, there is a definite and unique “philosophy of drama”—a dialectic characterized by the seemingly endless search for spiritual harmony/unity (reached when points/counter-points collide in order to create some new philosophical synthesis). Utilizing secondary sources (mostly philosophical critiques of Dostoevsky’s works), the author explores, in greater depth, the various questions and issues related to human, moral, and existential quandaries/drives/dilemmas raised within Dostoevsky’s writing.