„W szwajcarskich górach…”. Z profesorem Leszkiem Liberą rozmawia Jarosław Ławski

Abstract

The volume is a transcript of a conversation between Professor Jarosław Ławski and Professor Leszek Libera held in August 2022. Leszek Libera (born in 1948 in Racibórz) is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Zielona Góra; a historian of Polish literature, a translator from German, and a novelist. The fruit of his work, reading, and research are several books devoted to the works of Juliusz Słowacki (and, to a lesser extent, Adam Mickiewicz). For nearly twenty years he has been associated with the intellectual milieu of Zielona Góra; at the local university, he conducted master’s seminars and gave lectures on the history of literature. He is the author of numerous studies on the literature of Polish and German Romanticism, as well as monographs: Juliusz Słowacki’s Journey to the Holy Land from Naples, Poznań 1993; Romanticism and Folklore: The Works of Jacek Malczewski and Bolesław Leśmian, Poznań 1994; In Switzerland: A Study of Juliusz Słowacki, Kraków 2001; “Maria Stuart”: A Drama by Juliusz Słowacki, Zielona Góra 2003; Wounded Illusion: on Juliusz Słowacki’s “Balladyna” and Ludwig Tieck’s “Puss in Boots”, Zielona Góra 2007; Mickiewicz and Medicine: Romantic Sketches, Zielona Góra 2010; Gottfried August Bürger – Author of “Lenora”, Bialystok 2016. He has published his own translations, published as annotated editions: Ludwig Tieck’s Puss in Boots and The World in a Wrap, Zielona Gora 2007; Ludwig Tieck’s Prince Zerbino, or A Journey in Search of Good Taste. In a Sense, A Continuation of Puss in Boots. German Comedy in Six Scenes, Zielona Gora 2012, Ludwig Tieck’s Blonde Eckbert and Mountain Run, Białystok 2022. In 2021, he published a biography: Ludwig Tieck Called the King of Romanticism, Białystok 2021. He is the author of a trilogy Der Utopek. Roman, Dresden 2011, Buks Molenda. Roman, Dresden 2012, Utopek’s Testament, Dresden 2020, which was published in Polish in a translation by Sława Lisiecka. Professor Leszek Libera has been repeatedly invited to give a “Lecture of Master” at the Faculty of Philology at the University of Białystok, but due to the dramatic changes in the world in 2020–2022, he could not accept the invitation (he lives in Essen, Germany). Professor Libera’s cooperation with the Białystok academic community has continued since 1997, including joint editions of works of German Romanticism and bio­graphies of its authors in the “Black Romanticism” Series, reviewing works, lectures at conferences organized by the Department of Philological Research “East - West” in Vilnius, Szetejnie, and Bialystok. In the interview, Professor Libera talks about his studies at the University of Wrocław, the master-apprentice relationship through which he formed his workshop, his travels in Switzerland, during which he established the unknown contexts of Juliusz Słowacki’s poetry, as well as his passion for writing culminating in the trilogy about Utopek. In the final part of the conversation, he talks about the former (fascinating to him) face of German culture and the contemporary destruction of its image.