General information

Course type AMUPIE
Module title Society and Culture in Postcommunist Poland
Language English
Module lecturer prof. UAM dr hab. Izabella Main
Lecturer's email imain@amu.edu.pl
Lecturer position Adiunkt
Faculty Faculty of Anthropology and Cultural Studies
Semester 2022/2023 (winter)
Duration 30
ECTS 5
USOS code SCPP

Timetable

Tuesdays, 12.30-14.00

Morasko Campus, Collegium Historicum, ul. Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 7,

1st floor, room 2.21

Module aim (aims)

The general aim of the course is to discuss and to analyze continuities and ruptures in society and culture in post-communist Poland.

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

Requirements

1. Active class participation

All students are expected to read texts for classes and discuss it.  Students are expected to take part in all classes, two absences without an excuse note are permitted, however you need to write a critical review of the paper discussed during the class. 

 2. A written paper / an oral presentation.

Students may choose between writing a final paper and making a presentation during the class. The final paper should have 6-8 pages and be delivered by 20 January 2023. Oral presentations will take place in January 2023. Topics of papers / presentations will be discussed during the classes and by e-mail.

 Students will be evaluated according to active involvement in class discussions (30%), short essays (20%) and the final paper / oral presentation (50%).

Syllabus

  1. Introduction

Themes, methods, requirements; History of Poland in a nutshell, Polish society – changes and raptures.

Krzysztof Kieslowski: From A Night Poter’s Point of View

Homework: Please see: The Communist Regime in Poland in 10 Astonishing Pictures [by Chris Niedenthal]: https://culture.pl/en/article/the-communist-regime-in-poland-in-10-astonishing-pictures

2. Deconstructing history of the Polish People’s Republic

Discussing The Communist Regime in Poland in 10 Astonishing Pictures [by Chris Niedenthal]

Movies: Moje miejsce // Król [My place /// The King] – Paweł Łoziński

Group work:  Concept of homo sovieticus?

  1. Continuity and rupture in politics and society – communism

Witeska-Młynarczyk, Anna. 2016. Empowering Files: Secret Police Records and Life Narratives of Former Political Prisoners of the Communist Era in Poland. In Reclaiming the Personal: Oral History in Post-socialist Europe, ed. N. Khanenko-Friesen, G.Grinchenko, Toronto University Press.

  1. Local memories and spaces of commemoration: Poznań

Walking tour in Poznań – places of memory

Or Poznań June 1956 Museum - a visit to Poznań June Museum.

  1. Local memories and spaces of commemoration: Poznań

Stacul, Jaro. 2014. "The Production of 'Local Culture' in Post-socialist Poland."  Anthropological Journal of European Cultures 23 (1): 21-39.

  1. New stratifications: poverty

Kuźma, Inga. 2016. The sense and the practices of living in a homeless shelter. “Studi di Nuevo Meridionalismo”, R. II, nr 3, s. 223-235.

  1. Abortion debate

Kramer, Anne-Marie. 2007. ‘The Abortion Debate in Poland: Opinion Polls, Ideological Politics, Citizenship and the Erasure of Gender as a Category of Analysis’, in J. E. Johnson and J. C. Robinson (eds) Living Gender after Communism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 63-79

  1. Religious identities and activities

Galbraith, Marysia. 2000. "On the Road to Częstochowa: Rhetoric and Experience on a Polish Pilgrimage." Anthropological Quarterly 73 (2): 61-73.

  1. Values and conflicts: religion, politics and health

Radkowska-Walkowicz, Magdalena. 2017. "How the Political Becomes Private: In Vitro Fertilization and the Catholic Church in Poland." Journal of Religion and Health.  https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10943-017-0480-3.pdf

A movie: Trzy rozmowy o życiu [Three talks about life]

  1. Sexual minorities

Hall, Dorota.  2015. Antagonism in the Making: Religion and Homosexuality in Post-Communist Poland. In Religious and Sexual Nationalisms in Central and Eastern Europe: Gods, Gays, and Governments, ed. S. Sremac and R. R. Ganzevoort. Leiden: Brill, 74-92.

  1. Discourses and practices related to „refugee crisis”

Strzałkowski, Michał. 2018.  Fortress Europe lives on in Poland,  EURACTIV.pl, translated by Alexandra Brzozowski, May 29, 2018 https://www.euractiv.com/section/justice-home-affairs/news/fortress-europe-lives-on-in-poland/ (accessed September 20, 2018)

  1. Experiences of emigration

Pine, Frances. 2014. "Migration as Hope: Space, Time, and Imagining the Future." Current Anthropology 55(S9): S95-S104.

A movie: Out of reach [Poza zasięgiem], dir Jakub Stożek, 2010

  1. Migration to Poland: Cultural encounters, integration, and othering

Bashko, Aliaksei. "Entrepreneurship and ethnic economy employment among Chinese and Vietnamese residents of Warsaw." International Migration online 1 June 2021

14-15. Presentations and final discussion

Reading list

Bashko, Aliaksei. "Entrepreneurship and ethnic economy employment among Chinese and Vietnamese residents of Warsaw." International Migration online 1 June 2021.

Galbraith, Marysia. 2000. "On the Road to Częstochowa: Rhetoric and Experience on a Polish Pilgrimage." Anthropological Quarterly 73 (2): 61-73.

Hall, Dorota.  2015. Antagonism in the Making: Religion and Homosexuality in Post-Communist Poland. In Religious and Sexual Nationalisms in Central and Eastern Europe: Gods, Gays, and Governments, ed. S. Sremac and R. R. Ganzevoort. Leiden: Brill, 74-92.

Kramer, Anne-Marie. 2007. ‘The Abortion Debate in Poland: Opinion Polls, Ideological Politics, Citizenship and the Erasure of Gender as a Category of Analysis’, in J. E. Johnson and J. C. Robinson (eds) Living Gender after Communism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 63-79.

Kuźma, Inga. 2016. The sense and the practices of living in a homeless shelter. “Studi di Nuevo Meridionalismo”, R. II, nr 3, s. 223-235.

Pine, Frances. 2014. "Migration as Hope: Space, Time, and Imagining the Future." Current Anthropology 55(S9): S95-S104.

Radkowska-Walkowicz, Magdalena. 2017. "How the Political Becomes Private: In Vitro Fertilization and the Catholic Church in Poland." Journal of Religion and Health.  https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10943-017-0480-3.pdf

Stacul, Jaro. 2014. "The Production of 'Local Culture' in Post-socialist Poland."  Anthropological Journal of European Cultures 23 (1): 21-39.

Strzałkowski Michał. 2018.  Fortress Europe lives on in Poland,  EURACTIV.pl, translated by Alexandra Brzozowski, May 29, 2018 https://www.euractiv.com/section/justice-home-affairs/news/fortress-europe-lives-on-in-poland/

Witeska-Młynarczyk, Anna. 2016. Empowering Files: Secret Police Records and Life Narratives of Former Political Prisoners of the Communist Era in Poland. In Reclaiming the Personal: Oral History in Post-socialist Europe, ed. N. Khanenko-Friesen, G.Grinchenko, Toronto University Press.