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Polish 630

Pol 630: Polish Literature until 1900
16957-2 L

Fall 2004
Tuesday-Thursday 3:30-5:18
University Hall 0066

Instructor Information:
Instructor: Halina Stephan e-mail: stephan.31@osu.edu
Office: 303 Oxley Hall 392-8770 Mailbox: Slavic Dept. 232 Cunz
Office Hours: Tue Th 2:00-3:00 Phone: 292-6025

The course presents the highlights of Polish literature and culture from its beginning to the end of the ninetieth century. In seeking to define "Polishness" and the culture it produced, the students will study the cultural and intellectual history as represented in the major works of Polish literature. The literature of the Renaissance, Baroque, Classicism, Romanticism and Positivism will be discussed as the key text formatting the Polish national identity and shaping the national self-definition.

Special emphasis is put on the legacy of Polish Romantic literature of the first half of the nineteenth century (Mickiewicz, Slowacki, Krasinski) and on the literature of the end of the nineteenth century (Sienkiewicz, Prus, Orzeszkowa), which redefines the concept of nationality in the absence of the Polish state.

Films will be used to show the contemporary media interpretation of the major works of Polish literature. Readings and discussions are in English. No knowledge of Polish is required.

Requirements and grades:
Regular class preparation, participation in discussions30%
Midterm 25%
Term paper25% (due Nov. 23)
Report20%

Term paper topic is to be selected by Nov. 2. Please submit it in writing, together with a preliminary bibliography.

For the report select an item (poetry, prose, drama) on the reading list and offer a short introduction and a close analysis of the text. Select the topic of the report by Oct. 5.

Required texts:

Czeslaw Milosz, The History of Polish Literature (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983).

Adam Zamoyski, The Polish Way: A Thousand-Year History of the Poles and Their Culture (New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc., 2001).

Literary texts will be available at the Reserve in the Library or as hand-outs.

Texts on Reserve:

Monumenta Polonica: The First Four Centuries of Polish Poetry. A Bilingual Anthology (Ann Arbor: Michigan Slavic Publications, 1989).

Medieval Literature of Poland: An Anthology, ed. Michael Mikos (New York: Garland Publishers, 1992).

Polish Baroque and Enlightenment Literature, ed. Michael Mikos (Slavica, 1996).

Polish Romantic Literature: An Anthology, ed. Michael Mikos (Slavica, 2002).

Polish Romantic Drama, ed. Harold Segel (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1977)

The Major Comedies of Alexander Fredro, ed. Harold Segel (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969)

Boleslaw Prus, The Sins of Childhood and Other Stories (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1996).

Russian and Polish Women's Writing, ed. Helena Goscilo (Indiana, 1988).

Films:

These films are based on major literary works written during the period discussed in our course. They are available at the Slavic Center (303 Oxley) for your use.
The Saragossa Manuscript (Jan Potocki)
Pan Tadeusz (Adam Mickiewicz)
The Revenge (Aleksander Fredro)
The Knights of the Cross (Henryk Sienkiewicz)
The Deluge (Henryk Sienkiewicz)
With Fire and Sword (Henryk Sienkiewicz)
The Wedding (Stanislaw Wyspianski)
The Promised Land (Wladyslaw Reymont)


Schedule:
Thurs Sept. 23 Introduction: Major Themes in Polish Literary Tradition
Tue Sept. 28 Poland in the Middle Ages: Culture and Literature
  • Chapter 1, 2 of Milosz's The History of Polish Literature (pp. 3-24)
  • Poems "Mother of God" and "Lament of Our Lady at the Foot of the Cross" (in Monumenta, p. 9, 17-18); "Conversations of a Master with Death" (in Monumenta, 35-59).
  • Recommended: Chapter 2, 3, 4 of Zamoyski, The Polish Way (pp. 9-45).
Thurs Sept. 30 Golden Age of Poland: Renaissance, Humanism and Reformation (The Sixteen Century and the beginning of the Seventeenth Century): Rej and Kochanowski
  • Chapter 3 of Milosz's The History of Polish Literature (pp. 25-up to p. 95).
  • Mikolaj Rej, "A Short Conversation Between Three Persons, a Squire, a Bailiff, and a Parson" (in Monumenta, pp. 99-105.
  • Recommended: Chapters 5, 6, 7 of Zamoyski's The Polish Way (pp. 92-125)
SELECT THE TOPIC OF THE REPORT BY OCT. 5
Tue Oct. 5 The Golden Age: cont.
  • Jan Kochanowski, poems: "Song XXV," "Twelfth Maiden," "Laments: VII, X," (in Monumenta, pp. 137-139; 159; 172).
  • Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, "On the Reform of the Commonwealth" (in Mikos, Polish Renaissance Literature, pp. 96-106).
Thurs Oct. 7 Counter Reformation and Baroque (The Seventeenth Century): The Sarmatian Theme in the Polish Culture
  • Chapter 4 of Milosz The History of Polish Literature (pp. 111-148).
  • Andrzej Morsztyn, "Sonnets:" "To a Corpse," "On the Little Cross on a Certain Lady's Breast," "To a Butterfly" (in Monumenta, p. 313, 315, 317 and some in Mikos, Polish Baroque, p. 116, 118)
  • Jan Chryzostom Pasek, Memoirs (selections: "The Year of Our Lord 1659," and "The Year of Our Lord 1680" (in Mikos, Polish Baroque, pp. 164-169).
  • Recommended: Chapter 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 of Zamoyski's The Polish Way (pp. 126-205).
Tue Oct. 12 Enlightenment: The Eighteen Century.
  • Chapter 5, 6 of Milosz The History of Polish Literature (pp.153-192).
  • Ignacy Krasicki, Satires: "Drunkeness," "The Fashionable Wife" (in Monumenta, pp. 433-439, 441-451) Fables: ""Preface to the Fables" (in Monumenta, 453), "Charity," "The Lamb and the Wolves" (in Monumenta, , 463, 467 and some in Mikos, Polish Baroque, pp. 253, 250).
  • Recommended: Chapter 13, 14, 15 of Zamoyski's The Polish Way (pp. 206-258).
Thurs Oct. 14 Romanticism and Its Impact on Polish Culture (The First Half of the Nineteenth Century).
  • Chapter 7 of Milosz, The History of Polish Literature (pp. 195- up to 208).
  • Adam Mickiewicz, poem "Romanticism" (in Milosz, The History of Polish Literature, pp. 211-213).
  • Recommended: Chapter 16, 17 of Zamoyski's The Polish Way (pp. 259-286).
Tue Oct. 19 Romantic Poets
  • Introduction to Polish Romantic Drama, ed. Harold Segel, pp. 21-71 (on reserve).
  • Poetry hand-outs
Thurs Oct. 21 The Image of the Romantic Bard: Adam Mickiewicz
  • Milosz, History of Polish Literature, pp. 208-232.
  • Adam Mickiewicz, drama "Forefathers' Eve, Part III" (in Polish Romantic Drama)
Tue Oct. 26 Romantic Poets: Juliusz Slowacki
  • Milosz, History of Polish Literature, pp. 232-243.
  • Juliusz Slowacki, drama "Fantazy" (in Polish Romantic Drama)
Thurs Oct. 28 Romantic Poets: Zygmunt Krasinski
  • Milosz, History of Polish Literature, pp. 243-247; 266-280.
  • Zygmunt Krasinski, drama "The Un-Divine Comedy" (in Polish Romantic Drama)
PREPARE THE TERM PAPER TOPIC AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR NOV. 2
Tue Nov. 2 Midterm Review
Thurs Nov. 4 Midterm
Tue Nov. 9 Polish Theatre: Aleksander Fredro
  • Milosz, History of Polish Literature, pp. 249-254.
  • Aleksander Fredro, "The Revenge" in The Major Comedies of Alexander Fredro, ed. Harold Segel)
Thurs Nov. 11 Veterans' Day
Tue Nov. 16 Prose of the Positivists (The Second Half of the Nineteenth Century)
  • Chapter 8 of Milosz The History of Polish Literature (pp. 281-291).
  • Recommended: Chapter 18 of Zamoyski's The Polish Way (pp. 301-323).
Thurs Nov. 18 Prose: Boleslaw Prus
  • Milosz, The History of Polish Literature, pp. 291-303.
  • Boleslaw Prus, "Antek" and "Michalko" (in Boleslaw Prus, The Sins of Childhood and Other Stories)
Tue Nov. 30 Eliza Orzeszkowa
  • Milosz, The History of Polish Literature, pp. 303-308.
  • Eliza Orzeszkowa, "Miss Antonina," (in Russian and Polish Women's Writing, ed. Helena Goscilo).
Tue Nov. 23 TERM PAPER DUE TODAY
Henryk Sienkiewicz
  • Milosz, The History of Polish Literature, pp. 308-14.
  • Henryk Sienkiewicz, "The Lighthouse Keeper" (in Introduction to Modern Polish Literature, ed. Adam Gillon and Ludwik Krzyzanowski).
Thurs Nov 26 Thanksgiving
Tue Nov. 30 Henryk Sienkiewicz: Historical Trilogy in Film
Thurs Dec. 2 Summary: Polish literary heritage