Zapolska międzynarodowa. Seria I: Biografia, estetyka, recepcja

Abstract

Monografia "Zapolska międzynarodowa. Seria I: Biografia, estetyka, recepcja", pod redakcją Anny Janickiej i Piotra Biłosa (Kraków–Białystok 2022), stanowi pokłosie obchodów 100. rocznicy śmierci Gabrieli Zapolskiej (1857–1921) w 2021 roku. Wydanie to podsumowuje międzynarodowy projekt naukowy oraz I Międzynarodową Konferencję Naukową "Gabriela Zapolska. Biografia – Estetyka – Idee", która odbyła się 24 września 2021 roku (Białystok–Paryż–Lwów).

Projekt, zainicjowany w 2020 roku, miał na celu nowe interpretacje twórczości Zapolskiej w kontekście bliskich jej kultur: polskiej, francuskiej i ukraińskiej. Wśród instytucji organizujących znalazły się m.in. Uniwersytet w Białymstoku, Polska Akademia Umiejętności (Kraków), Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Paryż) oraz Instytut Iwana Franki Narodowej Akademii Nauk Ukrainy (Lwów). Konferencja, pomimo pandemii, a następnie inwazji Rosji na Ukrainę, zrealizowała sesje w Białymstoku, Paryżu (2022) i Lwowie (online, 2023).

W badaniach wzięło udział 23 naukowców z Polski (m.in. UW, PAU, UJ), Francji, Ukrainy, Gruzji i Wielkiej Brytanii. Skupiono się na zagadnieniach takich jak zawiłości biografii i ich literackie metamorfozy, estetyka twórczości Zapolskiej w kontekście literatury i sztuki europejskiej, jej relacje ze środowiskiem teatralnym i artystycznym, idee i mitologia w jej pismach, a także problemy przekładu jej dzieł.

Badania ukazały różnorodność kontekstów recepcji Zapolskiej – w ujęciach ukraińskich, gruzińskich, rosyjskich, francuskich i białostockich. Podjęto także studia porównawcze, zestawiając ją m.in. z Łesią Ukrainką, Józefem I. Kraszewskim, Les Nabis, czy Patricią Highsmith, a także francuskim teatrem i literaturą kryminalną. Odnotowano inspirację metodologią feministyczną, choć debata skoncentrowała się bardziej na jej "prawdzie" niż bezkrytycznym zastosowaniu.

Monografia składa się z trzech głównych sekcji badawczych: Biografia i Sztuka, Interpretacje oraz Recepcja, Konteksty, poprzedzonych wstępem redaktorów, Piotra Biłosa i Anny Janickiej. Książkę uzupełniają aneks zawierający wywiad Anny Janickiej z Elżbietą Koślacz-Virol, pionierką francuskich badań nad Zapolską, oraz materiał fotograficzny. Projekt zrealizowano dzięki wsparciu programu "Regionalna Inicjatywa Doskonałości" MNiSW na Wydziale Filologicznym Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku.

In 2021, the communities of literary theorist and artists celebrated the 100th anniversary of death of Gabriela Zapolska (1857–1921), the author of the timeless play The Morality of Mrs. Dulska (1906), Skiz (1909), The Four of Them (1907), That Man (1898), an illustrious prose writer, novelist (Tuśka’s Daugther, 1907; Human Menagerie, 1893, Seasonal Love, 1904), short story writer, reporter, art critic and authors of letters. The anniversary was celebrated in a special time: the second year of the pandemic. Despite those unfavourable circumstances, this classic of Polish literature was extensively commemorated. The Morality of Mrs. Dulska, a play that once aroused and continues to arouse controversy, was heard in more than two thousand locations in Poland as part of the National Reading project. The writer’s jubilee included the 1st International Scientific Conference in the series “International Zapolska. Biography – Work – Reception” held on the 100th anniversary of death of the Writer (1921–2021) and focused on the theme “Gabriela Zapolska. Biography – Aesthetics – Ideas”, Białystok – Paryż – Lwów, 24 September 2021. The Conference initiated a joint project carried out by several institutions from Poland, Ukraine and France and aimed to propose new interpretations of the writer’s work in the context of cultures known and familiar to her: Polish, French and Ukrainian. Three scientific sessions were planned already in 2020 as part of the project. Due to the pandemic, the conference in Paris originally scheduled for 2020 was replaced by a conference in Białystok, to be followed by sessions in Paris in 2022 and, despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, by an online conference in Lviv in 2023. The project was carried out on an international scale and organized by the following institutions: the Department of Interdisciplinary Philological Studies at the University of Białystok (Poland); 1st Faculty of Philology of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (Kraków, Poland); Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, USPC Université Sorbonne-Paris-Cité (Paris, France); Ivan Franko Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Lviv Branch (Ukraine). Academics addressed the following research topics: – Intricacies of the writer’s biography, their literary records and metamorphoses. – Aesthetics of Zapolska’s work in the context of Western and Eastern European literature and art. – Zapolska and the theatre and artist communities. – Ideas, intellectual projects, mythology in the writing of the author of That Man. – Problems in translating the work of the author of The Morality of Mrs. Dulska. – Aesthetics of the work of Zapolska, reception of her writing and translations. Importantly, the research project could be undertaken thanks to support from the programme conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science, named “Regional Initiative of Excellence”, implemented in the disciplines of literary theory and linguistics at the Faculty of Philology, University of Białystok. The studies were coordinated and the project was initiated by Dr. hab. Anna Janicka, Professor of the University of Białystok, a researcher studying the work of Gabriela Zapolska. The monograph is co-edited by the French researcher Professor Piotr Biłos from the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, USPC Université Sorbonne-Paris-Cité (Paris, France) The project was carried out by 23 researchers from Poland, France, Ukraine, Georgia and Great Britain. Polish centres included: the University of Białystok, Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Museum of Literature in Warsaw, Pomeranian Academy in Słupsk and University of Gdańsk. The dynamic research process was best reflected in heated debates. A great surprise was provided by the diversity of contexts considered to describe the work of Zapolska, and their heterogeneity. Thus, we saw Zapolska in her Ukrainian, Georgian, Russian, French and Białystok receptions, but also Zapolska in comparative contexts, including Lesya Ukrainka, Józef I. Kraszewski, the French Les Nabis, Maria Morozowicz-Szczepkowska, Patricia Highsmith or French theatre and even crime fiction. Remarkably, inspiration drawn from feminist methodology was indicated, but debate focused rather on the “truth” of that method without applying it to Zapolska’s work as uncritically as in the early 21st century. The Conference is summarized in this monograph. The introduction by Piotr Biłos and Anna Janicka is followed by 3 principal research sections: Biography and Art, Interpretations, Reception, Contexts. The volume is supplemented by two annexes: the first includes an interview conducted by Anna Janicka with Elżbieta Koślacz-Virol, a pioneer in French research into Zapolska’s work; the other contains photographs taken during the meeting of researchers. Importantly, the research project could be undertaken and its results published thanks to support from the programme conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science, named “Regional Initiative of Excellence”, implemented in the disciplines of literary theory and linguistics at the Faculty of Philology, University of Białystok.