The latest issue of “Postscriptum Polonistyczne” is devoted to the subject of cultural, literary, and language legacy. Part One of the issue features seven articles in English, the proceedings of an academic conference “Obmyślanie Dwudziestolecia na nowo. Dziedzictwo Drugiej Rzeczpospolitej po r. 1989” (2022) [Imagining the Twenty-Year Interwar Period Anew. The Legacy of the Second Polish Republic after 1989]. The authors analyse the legacy of the Second Polish Republic in the aspects of literature, linguistics, museum science, and alternate history. Among the topics are: perception of the twenty-year interwar period, the feminatives, Polish popular culture in Israel, and the reinterpretation of historical narratives. Part Two (in Polish), Varia, which comprises nine studies, discusses reception of Polish literature abroad, identity, teaching Polish as a foreign language, and art. It includes articles on such topics as: the reception of Polish literature in Italy, Polishness in European cinema, self-creation strategies devised by artists, glottodidactic challenges, and identity-related questions.

The article serves as an introduction to the main problems related to the process of interpreting and reinterpreting of the legacy of the Second Republic of Poland after the breakthrough of 1989, principally including the issues of forming legacy discourses and their dynamics. It presents various strategies related to the phenomenon in question – both revisions and critical interventions, as well as reinterpretations and continuations, with inventive and reconstruction-based approach, with confirmation and deconstruction of stereotypes. The focus of interest was on the conditions underlying various ways of construction, valuation, and reconfiguring the image of the interwar period present both in literature, and in other cultural areas: language, film, theatre, and museum studies. The broadest field of reference for negotiation and communication of the legacy of the period 1918–1939 was considered to consist in social memory practices (particularly the conflict between affective memory and official memory policies) as well as transformations of collective identity and the attitude to Europeanness. Research questions included, among others, the following issues: How is the interwar past related to the projects of the present? Which trends raise the greatest interest and prove to be the most inspiring? What is the attitude of artists from different generations to the legacy of the Second Republic of Poland? In which genres of texts and in which areas of culture are images of the interwar period popular?

In the introductory part, the article presents the latest work of Polish linguists on the heritage of the interwar period in the Polish language and contemporary communication practices. The main part is devoted to the intensifying contemporary tendency to create female names in Polish for those professions, positions and functions which so far had only masculine names, for instance, architektka from architekt, psycholożka from psycholog. The feminization of names is shown against the background of linguistic practices in the interwar period. The process of women’s emancipation initiated at that time was reflected in the language. Contemporary disputes over the feminization of names are marked in terms of worldview and ideology. On the one hand, supporters of feminization refer to the tradition of the interwar period, while on the other, opponents reject it.

The article addresses the relationship of Jewish audiences in Mandatory Palestine/Israel to the cultural heritage of the Second Polish Republic, examining the transfer of Polish interwar popular culture to Palestine during the mandate period and to Israel after 1948, as well as the contemporary revival of interest in this cultural phenomenon. The author analyzes various levels and forms of cultural transfer, considering the roles of artistic communities and audiences, individual initiatives and institutional infrastructure, and social and economic factors. The study also comments on the transformations of cultural texts undergoing transfer, which are adapted to meet new audience needs and reshaped by functioning within novel cultural contexts. The theoretical framework is constructed using categories of transfer, transnationality, locality, adaptation, identity, cosmopolitanism, translation, and contact zone. The transfer of Polish popular culture occurs through diverse cultural practices, with translation playing a pivotal role. This transfer takes place in a transgeographic contact zone defined by the relational space between Warsaw and Tel Aviv as centres of modern culture. In contemporary Israel, references to interwar Polish popular culture and its local adaptations serve a subversive and critical function in relation to the state’s identity politics.

The article analyzes counterfactual historical scenarios developed in the works of Ziemowit Szczerek. In his prose (journalism, essays, documentaries, novels), the writer reflects on the possible history of the Second Polish Republic after its victory over the Germans in the September campaign of 1939. In a narrative game in which he confronts, on the one hand, interwar geopolitical projects, modernization programs, colonial plans, artistic utopias, as well as an urbanist and technical thought, and, on the other hand, contemporary historical knowledge and current ideological discussions, the author considers the extent to which the events he depicted in Rzeczpospolita zwycięska [Victorious Poland] and Cham z kulą w głowie [A Lout with a Bullet in the Head] could be reconciled with the processes unfolded during the PRL and after 1989. The idea is to reveal a hidden continuity between the interwar and postwar periods and the post-transformation years, as well as to the continued presence of the legacy of 1918– p1939. Among the factors that might influence this state of affairs, he points to the condition of the society, its moral standards, mentality, and models of civilization. Another important motif in Szczerek’s writings is the projection of the imperial and colonial experience of the Poles and the reflection on the consequences that Poland would have to face if it acquired the status of a Central European superpower.

The article analyzes the creation of alternative histories using the examples of Xavras Wyżryn [Xavras Wyżryn] and Lód [Ice]. The focus of the interpretations will be on the question of why this particular period was subjected to counterfactual processes. In Xavras, the first half of the twentieth century is presented as a sequence of events resulting from the still ongoing war of 1920, that is, as an effect of human actions; in Ice, on the other hand, the events are caused by a meteorite impact, that is, they result from natural factors. In both works, 1918–1939 is not a period marked by war and is not decisive for the development of the Polish state. In this article, I will discuss the methods of constructing fictional worlds and answer the fundamental questions about the relationship between chance and the supreme law built into history, especially the juxtaposition of ideas of modernity and the growing totalitarianism. First, however, I will focus on the new ways of interpreting culturally mythologized spaces, logical and philosophical theories, and interpersonal relations through fictional alternative worlds.

The article results from the author’s participation in a project proposing interdisciplinary perspectives on contemporary revisions of the interwar period (1918–1939), including the interwar period in theater. The change in the way of interpreting the culture of this period was presented by the author using the examples of two 2008 productions of Stanisława Przybyszewska’s Danton’s Case, staged by important directors active after 1989: Jan Klata (Teatr Współczesny in Wrocław) and Paweł Łysak (Teatr Polski in Bydgoszcz). This makes it possible to bring to the fore not the monumental theater of Leon Schiller, built on Polish Romanticism as a continuation of the freedom tradition, but on a program of rejected – both in the 1930s and during the communist period – leftist ideas, important for socio-cultural progress. The mentioned stage production of the twenty-first century draw attention to the current of aesthetic-political engagement in Polish interwar theater, and inscribe this theme in the program of dismantling earlier theatrical hierarchies built on the concept of a national community united by Romantic myth. Despite the fact that Stanisława Przybyszewska was not part of the feminist movement, the renewal of the meanings and form of her drama can be linked today, firstly, to the appreciation of her as an important voice of a politically and socially conscious
author, proposing Brechtian-style theater, and secondly, to the revision of the twentieth century seen anew as a moment of women’s attempt at breaking the masculocentric order of social life.

The article is a critical response to the populist rhetoric utilized in Poland in the aftermath of the 2015 elections. What the author reflects upon is how the visual arts of the twenty-year interwar period (1918–1939) have been represented in museum exhibitions organized in the twenty-first century. Focusing on the expositions at the Muzeum Sztuki [Museum of Art] in Łódź, in particular two displays: Pole, Jew, Artist… and Correspondences, the author asks a question: What methodological assumptions were those expositions based on and how did they transcend the traditional discourse of the Polish history of art? Based on these case studies, the author demonstrates that curatorial practice at the Museum of Art had been closely intertwined with revaluations occurring in the academic reflection on Polish art after 1989. Subsequently, the author refers, among others, to the thought of Michał Paweł Markowski and Laurajane Smith, while discussing the problem of the current role played by the avant-garde heritage. In this perspective, the analysis of exhibitions at the Museum of Art shows that the representations of the twenty-year interwar period, instead of having been focused on the past, were future-oriented, since the said heritage may have a preventive character and transformative power. By opposing the populist visions of culture, it persuades to be open to difference, to empatically notice the communities based on values, and to remain critically mindful of conceptual foundations of arts. The article’s content spans the spheres of studies on alternative modernisms and, in its backdrop, of critical heritage studies.

This text focuses on the contribution of Polish (and non-Polish) actors to building an image of expatriate Polishness in foreign (European) feature films. The two main questions that underlie the conducted research are: which actors were cast as Polish emigrants in European cinematography and how does the Polishness of these actors portrayed on screen intertwine with other identity markers (such as class, gender, ethnicity, generational affiliation, religion)? The main focus is on productions from the 1990s up to the 2010s when the theme of Polish migration was gaining increasing importance in European cinema. As indicated by the careers of prominent actresses such as Alicja Bachleda-Curuś and Agata Buzek, this growing corpus of films redefines expatriate Polishness along two thematic lines: interethnic romance (as a form of Europeanisation) and intergenerational conflict (as a form of anti-patriarchal resistance). While the second theme serves to reconfigure Polishness from a position of confrontation (against paternal and patriarchal authority), the first theme does the same from a clearly positive and constructive point of view (as it embodies a return to the “European family” through a form of transnational reconciliation).

The object of this article is to analyse the presence of Polish non-fiction in Italy since 1990, restricted to two dominant trends. On the one hand it will be the genre referred to in Italian as memorialistica: this is a broad category which, in addition to ‘memoirism’, includes memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, etc. The second strand is Polish reportage, starting with the Italian discovery of Ryszard Kapuściński more than 30 years ago. The proper aim of the study is not to indicate which authors and which works are present on the Italian publishing market, nor to establish a hypothetical canon of the genre, but above all to reflect on the ‘forces’ determining the reception of non-fiction in Italy. Not insignificant in this context is the role played by translators, institutions providing public funding and the strategic choices of publishing houses closely linked to the horizon of expectations of an increasingly globalised Italian readership (as indicated, among other things, by the international phenomenon of the popularity of reportage). The statistical analyses carried out show that Italian audiences still see Polish culture through the prism of the great and tragic events of the 20th century (hence the continuing success of autobiographical genres among Italian audiences), while having a rather limited knowledge and a rather vague idea of the totality and complexity of Polish history. Moreover, the research confirms the international phenomenon of a gradual loss of interest in fiction in favour of non-fiction, perceived by readers as reading that guarantees a reliable picture of events and, thus, access to the truth.

The aim of this article is to diachronically trace the ‘presence’ of Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz’s œuvre and persona in
Croatia. The starting point in the presented study is the event of the publication of the translation of Podróże do Polski [Putovanja u Poljsku] by Dalibor Blažina in 2022 and the related question of the contemporary existence of the figure of the author of Panny z Wilka in Croatia. The research material, based on existing translations of the poet’s literary works (e.g. by Zdravko Malić), introductions to literary studies monographs and Croatian poetic and prose anthologies, has been analysed by the author and subjected to comparative interpretation in order to highlight the sources, inspirations and problems related to the Croatian reception of Iwaszkiewicz’s work. The study, belonging methodologically to the discipline of literary studies, may serve as a source of reference for translation studies and Slavic studies.

This article examines the pivotal role of educational resources in the teaching and learning process of Polish by non-Slavic-speaking students. The discussion highlights the importance of developing, enhancing, and updating didactic and lexicographical materials to cater to the needs of Romanian students learning Polish as a foreign language (starting from the beginner’s level) in the three undergraduate programmes available in the academic offer of the University of Bucharest. Especially in higher education, it is imperative to tailor educational resources to both the curriculum and the specific requirements of students. This article presents a synthetic review of scientific monographs, textbooks, scripts, exercise books, and other instructional aids utilized for teaching the Polish language, published by members of the Polish Philology department of the The Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures at University of Bucharest. Lying at the intersection of the fields of general linguistics, lexicography, and foreign language didactics, these materials illustrate the profile and dynamics of publications that provide theoretical and practical support for such subjects as Contemporary Polish Language, Practical Polish Language Classes, Comparative Polish-Romanian Phraseology, Polish Word Formation, Terminology, and Translation Theory. Recent Romanian research and publications in the field of Polish literature and culture, at least as diverse and valuable, deserve a separate article.

The heritage language spoken by the children of emigrants is gradually losing its vitality. Counteracting this state of affairs falls within the scope of family language policy (FLP). Its main agents are parents (emigrants) who are responsible for their children home language development and therefore should provide them with good quality, varied input. This text presents the concept of FLP in relation to Polish as a heritage language, showing complex contextual conditions of its functioning.

The article addresses issues related to adopting Polish names by Chinese students. In their relationships with
Poles, these names become business cards, often overshadowing and replacing their originally given Chinese
names. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to matters concerning adopting Polish names, the  strategies of giving them, as well as cultural and even identity issues associated with their use. When examining these phenomena, attention should be paid to the role of the tradition of giving names in Chinese and Polish culture, as well as issues of self-identification. The students’ attitude towards the newly adopted names depends largely on their reception (popularity, modernity, fashion) in Poland, especially in their peer group. To better understand and present the outlined issues, short interviews were conducted, based on which case studies were created to show what feelings and repercussions may be associated with using Polish names by Chinese students.

This article analyses the narratives carried out in two radio reportages by Anna Dudzińska dealing with the issue of emigration of contemporary Polish women and their adaptation to different cultural realities (Karolina w świecie Ekspatrii, 2018; Trudno być sobą w japońskich ogrodach, 2019). The aim of the study is to describe how a picture of the lives of the main female protagonists is created in a multi-voiced audio piece, in which important issues of the 21st century are focused: expatriation, globalisation and the clash of cultures. An important element of the study is also to look at the voice of the reporter herself, who, in creating the audio reportage, takes on a variety of roles. The methodological basis for the text is the concept of subjectivity as seen by Jerzy Bartmiński; the analysis also draws on Anna Wierzbicka’s work addressing issues of linguistic and cultural relativism.

The text concerns Katarzyna Kaczyńska-Piwko’s rarely interpreted autopathography about living with a chronic disease (congenital brittleness of the bones). The starting point is the title neologism – ‘ciałość’ – which allows us to ask about the intersection of three elements: the body, the bones (as a sign of the disease) and the whole (the subject and the body). Thanks to this, Kaczyńska-Piwko’s text becomes a literary illustration of philosophical questions: do we have a body? are we a body? The methodological framework for the reading is the maladic discourse, which places the individual experience of illness at the centre and, through it, sharpens the meaning of the body. The themes chosen for interpretation relate mainly to pain, understood in accordance with Elaine Scarry’s theory, and the relationship between the body and writing (writing with the body) with references to Jean-Luc Nancy’s philosophy. The author’s argument aims to present the dynamic relationship between the ailing subject and the body, which leads to transcend the Cartesian division in favour of capturing the unity of thought and body. The author traces the formation of the subject’s intimate relationship with the body: from rebellion, to listening to its speech, to tenderness, to acceptance. The body becomes the protagonist of the story, shattering the natural hierarchical nature of the relationship with the subject. The article proposes the application of an eclectic maladic discourse to Polish and literary studies.

Zdzisław Beksiński has long been self-styled as a Master by his fans and admirers. However, this seemingly flattering title eventually begins to consume itself, trivialising the essence of his art and identity. This phenomenon does not occur in isolation and seems to fit within the dynamics of other creative personalities, such as Jerzy Grotowski and Witold Gombrowicz. The proposed comparative analysis focuses on Grotowski and Beksiński, using the mode of writing about Gombrowicz. Gombrowicz, as an artist who continuously recreates and deconstructs himself and his art, forms a connection between the mentioned artists and provides a quasi-script for identity-forming auto-narratives. The common denominator between Grotowski and Beksiński indicates a closeness to the Bildungsroman tradition, as well as their work with identity, corporeality, and transgression. The biographies created by and about the artists indicate multiplicity, dispersion, strangeness, and intentional (de)construction of subjectivity. Both Grotowski and Beksiński
similarly engage in directing and editing (of themselves and the world) and utilise seemingly dependent language / gestures. However, by becoming popular / popularising icons / masters – from fully dimensional and beyond-form personalities – they are reduced to shallow echoes of the myth of greatness.