Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T06:11:23.208Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
This chapter is part of a book that is no longer available to purchase from Cambridge Core

Images of Jewish Poland in the Post-war Polish Cinema

from REVIEW ESSAYS

Edward Rogerson
Affiliation:
writes on various aspects of East European culture and history.
Antony Polonsky
Affiliation:
Brandeis University, Massachusetts
Get access

Summary

There is in the Polish literary tradition an identifiable ‘Polish-Jewish’ element, even though it is difficult to formulate an effective framework for critical analysis. The presence of a sizeable Jewish minority in the Polish lands is reflected in the vernacular literature - particularly in the century following the failure of the 1831 uprising - either through the writings of Polish-speaking Jews such as Bruno Schulz, or in the works of Polish writers such as Adam Mickiewicz or Władysław Reyniont. Whether there is in mainstream literature any real attempt to come to terms with the Jewish experience is highly debateable; those same writers whose works comprise the classic texts of Polish Romantic literature also helped to formulate the Messianic sub-text which enables Poles to project a selfimage of an exclusively Catholic Martyr Nation. Nevertheless, even if the growing polarisation of Polish society during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries tended to exclude the national minorities from the cultural debate, the existence of a culturally significant Jewish minority could not be ignored by Polish writers. Literature is both an imperative force and a mirror for the society which engenders it.

In the problematic cultural atmosphere of People's Poland, cinema's adherents would claim that it has become the most significant imperative intellectual force in Polish culture and society. For Andrzej Wajda, the contemporary cinema has appropriated the leading cultural role which Polish literature developed during the nineteenth century.

Perhaps. But this is special pleading, overstating the artistic autonomy of the contemporary Polish cinema. Wajda, of course, is teasing the geese; literary adaptations of classic texts form a significant part of his prolific output. He is keenly aware of the cultural supremacy of the Romantic tradition and of the continuing importance of the Polish classics - even if they remain largely unread by the bulk of the population. And if contemporary Polish literature has become conflated with cinematic output, it is in part because the Polish cinema reflects a self-consciously literary’ approach to artistic expression. Which is why, in the end, echoes of the Jewish past have survived - despite the virtual destruction of Jewish Poland in the Holocaust.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Print publication year: 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×