Literackie podsumowania polsko-hebrajskie i polsko-izraelskie

Abstract

The present volume gathers studies, essays and sketches written in the period from 1999 to 2013 by Ryszard Löw (b. 1931), a historian, literary critic and bibliographer, journalist and editor, who was born in Cracow into an assimilated Jewish family, but who has lived in Israel since 1952. Ryszard Löw has rendered great service to Polish-Hebrew cultural relations. Since he left Poland in 1951, he has been a contributor to Polish journals in Israel (Nowiny Izraelskie, Echo Tygodnia, Kurier, Od Nowa, Nowiny-Kurier), in Paris (Kultura, Zeszyty Historyczne, Kontakt) and in London (Wiadomości). He has also written in Hebrew on Polish literature for the Hebrew monthly Mevuot and for the literary supplement to Al Hamishmar. In Poland he has published his articles and essays in Twórczość, Przegląd Orientalistyczny, Akcent, Dekada Literacka, Przegląd Humanistyczny, Ruch Literacki, Słowo Żydowskie, Teksty Drugie, Tygodnik Powszechny, Więź and Zeszyty Literackie. From 1957 to 1981 he worked as a correspondent for the Bibliographic Workshop at the Institute of Literary Studies in Poznań, where he regularly submitted information on Hebrew literary polonicas. For many years he has been the president of the Union of Authors Writing in Polish in Israel (from 1987 to 1988, and from 1993 until now). He is a member of Israeli PEN Club and the Israeli Association of Slavic and East European Studies. In 2007 he became a foreign member of the Department of Philology at the Polish Academy of Learning in Cracow. From 1993 to 2006 in Israel he edited the Polish literary journal Kontury (altogether sixteen annual volumes were published). He is the author of the following books of essays: Julian Tuwim’s Hebrew Presence (1993), Under the Sign of Old Folios. Four Sketches on Jewish Problems and Books (1993), Signs of Presence. On Polish-Hebrew and Polish-Jewish Literary Relations (1995) and Recognitions. Literary Sketches (1998). He has been honored with numerous Israeli and Polish state decorations (in 1999 he was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland). He has always been attached to Cracow, but he has bequeathed his entire book collection to Jerzy Giedroyć University Library in Białystok. In June 2012 he was awarded the Meritorious Medal of the University of Białystok. The texts have been collected into three thematic groups. Part I features studies on the reception of Polish literature in the context of Hebrew culture: Mickiewicz in a Hebrew circle; Julian Klaczko in Hebrew literature and Hebrew perspective; Sienkiewicz’s Trilogy in Hebrew literary criticism; Reymont’s The Peasants in Hebrew literature; Zionistic reading of Brzozowski’s works; Zionistic reception of Żeromski’s works; Aleksander Zyga’s Study on the Jewish Problem in J. I. Kraszewski’s Works. Part II comprises three studies on key figures of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Polish-Jewish history: On Berk Neuman, a physician from Vilnius; On Józef Chazanowicz, a printer from Białystok; She loved two nations: Dora Kacnelson 1921 – 2003 – 2013. Part III brings sketches and memoirs dedicated to the contributors to the journal Kontury, Löw’s colleagues, literary critics, librarians and Israeli booksellers who felt strong bonds with Polish culture: Kontury. Journal – themes – contributors - reception; Andrzej Sycz; So as not to forget him [Paweł Glikson]; On Yoram Bronowski; Pani Łucja [Łucja Gliksman]; Józefa Baua’s sings of presence; Various faces of solitude [Filip Istner]; Through the silence they left behind [Natan Gross]; Late farewell [Zygmunt Frankel];A poet rescued from oblivion [Anita Wolfstein]; With a mask on [Maria Lewińska]; Tel Aviv recollections: People among books [Jan Fok]. The volume has been edited by Michał Siedlecki (PhD), a researcher in contemporary literature, and Professor Jarosław Ławski, the head of Chair in Philological Studies ‘East – West’. Barbara Olech (PhD), Ryszard Löw’s friend since the 1990s, has written ‘Afterword’. The reflections from this volume will be continued in a 2013 long interview with the writer to be published soon.