THE RESEARCH PROJECT «THE POLISH-TATAR LITERATURE SINCE 1918» AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BIAŁYSTOK IN POLAND (2013–2016)

Czerwiński Grzegorz

The objective of the project is an attempt to systematize and describe in a comprehensive manner the Polish-Tatar literature and enhance such description by the analysis and interpretation of the most important literary works. The basic hypothesis which the project author will try to verify is the existence of the Polish-Tatar literature as a separate phenomenon in the 20th century literature; a phenomenon which started to take its shape in the interwar period (1918–1939) and which has been developing until today (in the first years of the interwar period the community of Polish Tatars who had previously identified themselves with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania dissolved and as a result of this the Muslim citizens of the Second Polish Republic supported the new Polish state). The project author is of an opinion that the works of Polish Tatars should not be classified as one of the branches of Polish Eastern Borderland literature (literature of “Kresy“) or regional literature, and he is promoting the concept of Polish-Tatar literature (although it is without prejudice to the fact that the project may also contribute to the development of the model of the Polish-Belorussian-Lithuanian borderland, which already exists in the research consciousness, by enriching it with the Tatar component). This stance is based on the assumption that although in the interwar period the Tatars did not differ in their everyday life from the Poles (with the exception of their religious practices), their literary works, though written in Polish, in its archetypal layer form a cultural system which is significantly different from the Polish tradition. Due to the huge impact of the Muslim tradition they were the bridge between the Polish and the European culture and the tradition of the Muslim East. Therefore this literature requires a different research perspective than Polish regional literatures.

The project assumes that different research methods will be used, depending on the foreseen detailed tasks. In the case of the work with the manuscripts and typewritten versions of unpublished literary works, traditional philological and editing methods will be used. The analysis of works of Tatar authors shall be based on the methods from the area of the “art of interpretation“, thematic critique and psychoanalysis (the research in the area of the themes and motives of works as well as archetypal imagination). On the other hand, inter-textual and comparative methods shall also be used in order to set the Polish-Tatar literature in the wider cultural context. The inter-textuality shall allow for the examination of manners of transposition of themes from the literature of one nation into another national literature, which in this case refers to the transposition of themes from the literatures of the Muslim nations to the literature of Polish Tatars. The comparative approach (which is inspired not only by the classical comparative approach, but also by the so-called internal comparative approach, developed by Władysław Panas [1, p. 607]) will make it possible to show the relations between the literature of Polish Tatars and the experience of cultural borderline on the northern and eastern Polish Borderland and it shall also enable to view this literature as the space of the encounter between the culture of the Christian Europe and the Muslim Asia.

It is assumed that the result of the project shall be the introduction the term of Polish-Tatar literature into a wide research circulation together with the canon of basic literary works and accompanying literary studies (including the monograph dedicated to Polish-Tatar literature since 1918), which as a consequence may impact further development of research in the area of literature of cultural minorities and borderline cultures present in Poland, which are not only the result of closest cultural relations (the works of the inhabitants of Mazury, Kaszuby or Silesia, etc.), but also the result of combining both European and Asian elements (Polish-Armenian literature, Polish-Karaim literature, contemporary Polish Muslim literature etc.). Polish literary studies shall be enriched by a new component, which is vital from the point of view of the history of literature and which is important for the whole Polish cultural heritage, which also includes the cultures of national and religious minorities. The project is also significant for the civilization progress in the context of the development of humanist attitudes, since it promotes cultural values crated by a minority, thus contributing to the development of mutual respect, tolerance and equality between Polish citizens of different nationalities and religious backgrounds.

The sources of funding of the research project entitled “Polish-Tatar literature since 1918” is a grant of The National Science Centre of Poland (number of the grant is DEC-2012/07/B/HS2/00292).

Arctiles on Polish-Tatar literature, published by the research project author:

-Czerwiński G., Sprawozdania z podróży muftiego Jakuba Szynkiewicza. Źródła. Omówienie. Interpretacja, Białystok: Książnica Podlaska, 2013.

-Czerwiński G., Selim Chazbijewicz jako poeta polsko-tatarski, „Pamiętnik Literacki” 2013, № 2.

-Czerwiński G., O „sprawozdaniach” Jakuba Szynkiewicza, czyli mufti Drugiej Rzeczpospolitej jako pisarz, [in:] Pogranicze, Kresy, Wschód a idee Europy, seria II: Wiktor Choriew in memoriam. Preface by J. Ławski. Ed. by A. Janicka, G. Kowalski and Ł. Zabielski, Białystok: Książnica Podlaska, 2013.

-Czerwiński G., „Miejsca–archetypy” poezji polsko-tatarskiej (przykład Selima Chazbijewicza i Musy Czachorowskiego), „Rocznik Komparatystyczny” 2012, № 3.

-Czerwiński G., Panorama de la littérature polono-tatare aux XXe et XXIe siècles, „Slavica Bruxellensia” (Bruxelles) 2011, № 7.

-Червинский Г. (Czerwiński, G.). К проблеме современной польско-татарской литературы / Г. Червинский // Ученые записки Таврического национального университета им. В. И. Вернадского. Серия: Филология. Социальные коммуникации. – Симферополь. – 2010. – том 23. – № 4.

Literature:

1. Panas W., O pograniczu etnicznym w badaniach literackich [in:] Wiedza o literaturze i edukacja: księga referatów Zjazdu Polonistów. Ed. by T. Michałowska, Z. Goliński and Z. Jarosiński. Warszawa: Instytut Badań Literackich, 1996.

2. Chazbijewicz S., Azja w środku Europy. Tatarzy w twórczości Józefa Mackiewicza, „Tytuł” 1995, № 1.

3. Chazbijewicz S., Literatura Tatarów polsko-litewskich wyrazem syntezy kultury muzułmańskiej i wschodnioeuropejskiej, [in:] O dialogu kultur wspólnot kresowych. Ed. by S. Uliasza, Rzeszów 1998.

4.Chazbijewicz S., Podróż do źródła, „Topos” 1993, № 3.

5. Chazbijewicz S., Tatarzy i Wileńszczyzna XIX i XX w. w polskiej i polsko-tatarskiej literaturze [in:] Wilno i Wileńszczyzna jako krajobraz i środowisko wielu kultur. Ed. by E. Feliksiak, Białystok 1992.

6. Dziekan M. M., Kobieta, koń i step. Wokół czterowierszy Musy Czachorowskiego, „Przegląd Tatarski” 2009, № 1.

7. Dziekan M. M., „Rubai’jjat, albo czterowiersze”, „Przegląd Orientalistyczny” 1998, № 3/4.

8. Dziekan M. M., Słowoczas przestrzeni poza horyzontem. Musy Czachorowskiego nieskończona wędrówka w słowach i snach [in:] M. Czachorowski, Poza horyzontem, Wrocław–Białystok 2010.

9. Mach W., Stanisław Kryczyński, pisarz odnaleziony, „Nowa Kultura” 20 VII 1958, № 29.

10. Linkner T., Od baśni do „mistyki tatarskich kresów”, „Pomerania” 1994, № 5.