Alena Aniskiewicz is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of Michigan. Focusing on 20th century Polish popular culture, she is interested in the ways in which humor, absurdity, and the strange were employed creatively in response to the realities of life in the communist state. Prior to her return to academia, Alena spent two years living in Kraków, studying Polish and conducting an exhaustive survey of the city’s cafes.
Hela can be exasperating. Her views on gender relations outdated and her national prejudices problematic, she says inappropriate things at the dinner table. But she is the aging relative you love anyway, for her frankness and spirit.
There are more statues of Kościuszko in the United States than any other historical figure except George Washington. When Kościuszko talked about freedom, he meant it. So why don’t Americans know who he is? This documentary is a must for a national broadcast. PBS, take note.
Described by Roman Polanski as a troublemaker of immense charm, author Marek Hłasko looked like James Dean… but he was not a rebel without a cause.
A great artist in the tradition of Schulz, Wyspiański and Witkiewicz, Bogusław Schaeffer and his work are ubiquitous in Poland. And should be better known beyond. Magda Romanska is helping do that with her translation of three of his works, reviewed here by Alena Aniskiewicz.
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