November 4 – 8, 2024
Gingerbread with salt. Torun-Drohobych literary meetings
NAWA program “Promocjajęzykapolskiego”, contract BJP/PJP/2023/1/00030/U
Diary of the Week of Polish Literature, Language and Culture.
DAY THREE
Wednesday, November 6
A day with the theory of literature
The third day of the Week of Polish Literature, Language and Culture in Drohobych presented lectures on literary theory. Professor Majenna Tzisman-Eid, Nicolaus Copernicus University dwelt on the work of the Polish writer, Nobel laureate Olha Tokarchuk. Illustrating her lecture with examples from Polish and world literature, she talked about “how something that does not exist exists”, that is, about the influence of literary characters on our perception of reality. Professor Anna Skubachevska-Pnevska, the head of the Department of Theory of Literature and Comparative Studies at the Nicolaus Copernicus University, analyzed Olha Tokarchuk’s novels in the vein of mythical realism and pointed out a certain kinship between her works and the novels of Oksana Zabuzhko. The lectures provoked a lot of questions from the listeners, and there was a lively discussion afterwards.
After a short break, the participants listened to the lecture “Ivan Franko and Polish Culture” by Professor Halyna Sabat, Head of the Department of Foreign Literature and Polish Studies. She characterized the multicultural environment in which Ivan Franko studied tracing the evolution of his personality, the environment which motivated him to become a writer. She highlighted his contribution to the development and strengthening of Ukrainian-Polish literary ties, the reception of neighboring literature in his heritage emphasizing Franko’s attention to the work of the Polish Bards Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki, his attitude towards modernism, in particular to Stanisław Przybyszewski and Kazimierz Tetmayer.
The lecturer presented and analyzed the translated work of Ivan Franko, as well as Polish-language works, the bibliography of which is more than 1,000 items, she demonstrated individual publications from her own library. The story about Ivan Franko’s cooperation with Polish periodicals, about ten years of work in the Polish-language newspaper “Lviv Courier” was interesting. “, about the writer’s friendship with Eliza Ozheshko, Maria Konopnitska, Yan Kasprovych. Since the event took place in the Ivan Franko Museum-Studio, like the entire Week of Polish Literature, Language and Culture in Drohobych, the professor presented part of its exposition. After listening to the lecture, those present willingly shared their impressions of Ivan Franko, who paved the way for the rapprochement of the Polish and Ukrainian peoples. To the most active participants in the discussion, the professor presented editions of Frank’s works and collections of articles dedicated to the writer, arranged by her.
At the end of the third day of the Week of Polish Literature, Language and Culture in Drohobych, the participants of the event cut a symbolic gingerbread of cooperation between Drohobych and Toruń, which was sincerely treated to by Halyna Sabat. All materials of the third day’s event are available on the page of the project “Gingerbread with Salt. Torun-Drohobych Literary Meetings” on the following link.
