RESEARCH EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE<\/span><\/small><\/strong><\/p>\n FREEDOM OF RESEARCH \u2013 SCIENCE FOR THE FUTURE \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div> \u201cFreedom of Research \u2013 Science for the Future\u201d series consists of articles, interviews and short videos presenting research conducted by the winners of the \u201cFreedom of Research\u201d call for proposals<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[vc_btn title=”“FREEDOM OF REASEARCH – SCIENCE FOR THE FUTURE“ SERIES” style=”classic” shape=”square” color=”blue” size=”sm” align=”right” css=”.vc_custom_1663920605267{margin-top: 4px !important;margin-right: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;}” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fus.edu.pl%2Finicjatywadoskonalosci%2Fswoboda-badan-nauka-dla-przyszlosci%2F|||”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1663920620531{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;}”]<\/p>\n Marta Baron-Milian, PhD<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1620304473772{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_empty_space height=”2px” css=”.vc_custom_1620304425731{background-color: #9b132a !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner]\r\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n | Olimpia Orz\u0105da\u0142a |<\/span><\/p>\n Anatol Stern, Aleksander Wat or Bruno Jasie\u0144ski are names that we associate with Polish futurism. However, none of them was the one who initiated it. This role is played by a writer who is now somewhat forgotten and usually marginalised in the historical and literary narrative \u2013 Jerzy Jankowski from Vilnius.<\/p>\n Marta Baron-Milian, PhD from the Institute of Literary Studies of the University of Silesia in Katowice, winner of the first edition of the \u201cFreedom of research” competition as part of the Research Excellence Initiative, decided to show the role of Jankowski in the first years of Polish futurism. The works carried out by the literary scholar are part of the research devoted to the beginnings of the Polish avant-garde.<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \u201cThe subject of my research project focused on the traces of the first avant-garde practices in Polish literature. I mainly dealt with futurism, the history of which is a narrow part of the history of the Polish avant-garde, falling in the years 1918\u20131924. However, I was particularly interested in an even shorter period \u2013 the years 1918\u20131921, which is actually the very beginning of the futuristic movement\u201d, explains the researcher.<\/p>\n The history of Polish futurism focuses on two groups: one in Warsaw and one in Cracow, which merged in 1921 and have been working together ever since. Although the historical and literary narrative of Polish futurism has never been coherent, due to the significant differences between individual poetics, it emphasised their common features, characteristic of the futuristic avant-garde, inspired by Italian and Russian patterns.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring previous research, it caught my attention that before the merger of the two groups, between 1918 and 1921, the joint avant-garde practices of Aleksander Wat and Anatol Stern were significantly different from those which emerged later and differed from what we mean by futurism, dadaism or surrealism, avoiding thinking in terms of directions or movements at all. Undoubtedly, they had an avant-garde character, were inspired by topics that were of interest for the Western and Eastern avant-gardists, but processed them in a completely different way\u201d, explains M. Baron-Milian, PhD.<\/p>\n Stern and Wat called themselves neo-futurists and primitivists, forming the Warsaw group. According to the researcher, however, they were linked in a special way by their Jewish origin, “being foreign in language”, which can be clearly seen in their earliest works, especially in their joint appearances.<\/p>\n \u201cThe neo-futurists positioned themselves in relation to their Jewish origin in various ways\u201d, states the literary scholar. \u201cOn the one hand, they masked their identity, and on the other hand, they did the opposite \u2013 in various ways they \u2018played\u2019 in parodies and provocations, giving, for example, anti-Semitic lectures. It seems that these matters are well known, but in fact, the beginnings of the Polish avant-garde are rarely interpreted in this very perspective \u2013 as a kind of a \u2018minority\u2019 practice.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n During her searches in the archives, Jerzy Jankowski, who seems to be a marginalised figure, despite being considered the first Polish futurist, especially attracted the attention of the competition winner. Although a number of articles have been written about the poet, there is only one book about him (by Pawe\u0142 Majerski, PhD, Associate Professor from the Institute of Literary Studies of the University of Silesia). This marginalisation results from the fact that only one volume written by Jankowski is known today \u2013 \u201cTram wpopszek ulicy\u201d (eng. \u201cTram across the street\u201d), the rest of his texts are lost.<\/p>\n This work is the first Polish futuristic volume, consisting of poetry, prose and journalistic articles. It was post-dated to 1920, but in fact was already published in 1919, as evidenced by the reviews of October 1919. Interestingly, Jankowski’s journalistic output, unlike his poetry, is enormous. As a journalist, he travelled to many European cities and when he stayed somewhere longer, he published in the local press. M. Baron-Milian, PhD admits that it would be difficult to collect all journalistic publications written by the first Polish futurist because it would involve going through an enormous amount of material. However, during the research conducted as part of the project (mainly on press materials), it was possible to find several dozen scattered and more widely unknown poetic, prose and journalistic texts by Jankowski. They depict the writer’s extremely broad interests and show that foreign travels to, among others, London, Paris or Moscow, allowed Jankowski to get to know the avant-garde of various countries first-hand.<\/p>\n \u201cJankowski is a very interesting figure. He caught my attention with his extraordinary biography\u201d, admits the literary scholar. \u201cHe is a tragic figure. After the release of \u2018Tram wpopszek ulicy\u2019, so when Polish futurism begins, his \u2018artistic\u2019 history actually ends. As a result of alcoholism and probably mental illness, the poet removes himself from public life, although it is not known whether he ceases his creative activity. He dies in a psychiatric hospital in Kojrany, murdered by the Nazis in 1941. We do not know much about the last twenty years of his life, but from various stories of friends it is known that in the hospital he continued to preach his \u201cproclamations”, and maybe even manifestos…\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″]\r\n The fourth page of the cover of Jerzy Jankowski’s \u201cTram wpopszek ulicy\u201d | source: National Library<\/a>, public domain<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″]\r\n
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\n<\/span><\/small><\/strong><\/p>\nThe mysterious beginnings of the Polish avant-garde<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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