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Encounters with Polish and Ukrainian Literature with Dr Katarzyna Zechenter
13 August 2024
Dr Katarzyna Zechenter, Associate Professor in Polish Studies at SSEES appeared as a guest speaker on the Encounters with Polish and Ukrainian Literature video series, “Tadeusz Konwicki” (S4E7). The series, created by the Polish Cultural Institute New York, is for anyone interested in literature and the culture of books and reading.
This episode focuses on Tadeusz Konwicki (1926-2015), who made a significant contribution to the culture of dissent in Poland toward the end of the Communist period, leading up to the Solidarity movement. The discussion focuses on his major novels, including ‘A Dreambook for Our Time,’ ‘The Polish Complex,’ ‘A Minor Apocalypse,’ and ‘Bohin Manor,’ while also reflecting on his lesser-known works. Key topics include the controversies relating to Konwicki’s early socialist realist period, the representation of women and the male gaze in his works, and the importance of his novels from the pre-Solidarity period of the 1960s and 70s in shaping a discourse of freedom and multicultural pluralism in Poland.
You can watch the recording on YouTube.