Wanderers Across Language
Exile in Irish and Polish Literature of the Twentieth Century

Kinga Olszewska

Cover of Wanderers Across Language

Studies In Comparative Literature 12

Legenda

5 July 2007  •  198pp

ISBN: 978-1-905981-08-3 (hardback)  •  RRP £80, $110, €95

ISBN: 978-1-351195-39-3 (Taylor & Francis ebook)

ContemporaryEnglishCentralPoetryFiction

Exile has become a potent symbol of Polish and Irish cultures. Historical, political and cultural predicaments of both countries have branded them as diasporic nations: but, in Adorno's dictum, for an exile writing becomes home. Olszewska offers a multifaceted picture of the figure of exile in postwar Poland and Ireland, juxtaposing politics and culture: whereas Irish exile appears more in an economic and cultural context, the essence of Polish exile is political. This comparative study of works by Polish and Irish authors - Stanisław Barańczak, Adam Zagajewski, Marek Hłasko, Kazimierz Brandys, Brian Moore, Desmond Hogan and Paul Muldoon - shows a literature which not only depicts the experience of exile, but which uses exile as a literary device.

Kinga Olszewska teaches courses in world literature at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Reviews:

  • ‘This book is perhaps most interesting in the account given of key Polish journals such as Kultura, and the contexts in which specific debates took place; and in the translations of Polish texts that underpin the argument.’ — Fiona Becket, Modern Language Review 104.2, April 2009, 540-41 (full text online)

Bibliography entry:

Olszewska, Kinga, Wanderers Across Language: Exile in Irish and Polish Literature of the Twentieth Century, Studies In Comparative Literature, 12 (Legenda, 2007)

First footnote reference: 35 Kinga Olszewska, Wanderers Across Language: Exile in Irish and Polish Literature of the Twentieth Century, Studies In Comparative Literature, 12 (Legenda, 2007), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: 37 Olszewska, p. 47.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)

Bibliography entry:

Olszewska, Kinga. 2007. Wanderers Across Language: Exile in Irish and Polish Literature of the Twentieth Century, Studies In Comparative Literature, 12 (Legenda)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Olszewska 2007: 21).

Example footnote reference: 35 Olszewska 2007: 21.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)

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