In Łódź they’re fighting anti-Semitism with surrealism. Someone once said that with Polish anti-semitism, it is not that every Jew is the enemy, just that every enemy is a Jew. In some circles, to call someone a Jew is tantamount to insult, a phenomenon which is particularly common amongst football fans. The anti-Semitism and racism […]
Author: Tomasz Oryński
The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity
Jerzy Owsiak was always a colorful person. A quicksilver character who could never find a place for himself. He attempted to study various subjects from philosophy to the arts, evaded military service by faking mental illness and in the process became so interested in mental health that he become certified psychotherapists. He is also certified […]
Is Poland really a Catholic country?
Poland abroad is perceived as a deeply Catholic country. Bishops present at every state celebration, consecrating of every new build place – from universities to public toilets… But is that picture true? How it really looks when it comes to everyday people? To examine this we have, again, to come back in Polish history. Poland […]
Why there are demonstrations in today’s Poland
On Polish Facebook one internet meme became very popular in recent days. In the background we can see a picture of recent riots, small crying kid is comforted by his mom. „Don’t be afraid, son, they are just patriots”. That’s true, recent events in Warsaw scared many Poles. But when asked by a foreigner what […]
Two sad movies about happiness
“Return of the idiot” (“Návrat idiota”) and “Something like happiness” (“Štěstí“) are two movies dealing with the interpersonal relations. In both of them the viewer follow a group of Czech people from the small city, who live their ordinary lives and try to find happiness. Although at first sight both movies appear very similar (even the […]
Meanings and representation of popular and rock culture in Hungarian cinema.
Thanks to its relatively close relation with the Western world, Hungary much more than other countries of the Eastern Bloc was under very strong influence of the Western popular culture. It was visible especially at the field of the rock music. In the first part of my essay I will attempt to analyze motives of […]
Čapek and Vančura – is their writing really so different?
„War with the Newts” by Karel Čapek and „Kosmas” by Vladislav Vančura are at the first sight very different works. The first one is a classic Science-Fiction book, written in very modern language and using original narrative modes, while the second one is a tale of old times, told in strongly archaized language. However, both […]
Milan Kundera and the West
Milan Kundera is a writer who sits astride between the West and Eastern Europe. Being born in Brno he spent his first half of life in Czechoslovakia. Since 1975 he has been living in France. His work life can be divided into two parts, demarcating two different periods – before and after immigration. This unique […]
Closely watched trucks
Huge engine of monstrous, 18 wheeled Juggernaut roars while it climbs the bendy mountain road. Inside, a microphone from CB radio hangs over the dashboard. Behind the wheel a hairy trucker in a baseball cap neglectfully bites his toothpick. From time to time glancing at amazing views behind the windscreen and a sexy hitch-hiker on […]
On the fall of communism in Poland
When Lech Wałęsa, shouted “Pomożemya” together with other workers during the meetings with the Party First Secretary Edward Gierek in 1971, he really hoped that the Party would use his help and try to learn from its mistakes. “And what did Gierek do with our help?” he would ask later.1 Mistakes made by the government […]