Polish Studies

The place of Europe in post-Cold War national mythologies of different countries varies widely. In three arguably most dramatic examples, Poland rethought itself as “the somehow decentred heart of Catholic Europe” (Dayan & Katz, 1994, p. 166), while Russia gave reasons to conclude it “leaves the West” (Trenin, 2006, p. 87) and Ukraine stuck with its view of Europe as a normative example (Orlova, 2010, p. 26). To what extent this remains true if one is to look empirically at the discourses that currently inhabit news media? This paper points out to how narratives of Europe are instrumentalised in political discussions in the three counties that followed very different paths since the collapse of the communist bloc. The presentation includes results of qualitative analysis based on an open coding approach; the focus rests on the most prestigious news outlets (Rzeczpospolita, Gazeta wyborcza; Izvestiya, Kommersant; Dzerkalo tyzhnia, Korrespondent) but also includes important online blog platforms.

"The scholars of Central and Eastern Europe have long noticed that the place of Europe in post-Cold War national mythologies of different countries varies widely if not wildly. In three arguably most dramatic examples, Poland rethought itself as “the somehow decentred heart of Catholic Europe” (Dayan & Katz, 1994, p. 166), while Russia gave reasons to conclude it “leaves the West” (Trenin, 2006, p. 87) and Ukraine stuck with its view of Europe as a normative example (Orlova, 2010, p. 26). However, to what extent this remains true if one is to look empirically at the discourses that currently inhabit news media and public discussion? This paper points out to how various narratives of Europe are instrumentalised in internal and regional political discussions in the three counties that followed very different paths since the collapse of the communist bloc to which they once belonged, and whose relations have always remained defining to the structure of the region(s). The presentation includes results of qualitative analysis based on an open coding approach that discerns different narratives of Europe in the media discourses of the Polish, Russian and Ukrainian press. The focus of the analysis rests primarily on the most important and prestigious news outlets (Rzeczpospolita and Gazeta wyborcza in Poland; Izvestiya and Kommersant in Russia; Dzerkalo tyzhnia and Korrespondent in Ukraine) but also includes the most prestigious online blog platforms where opinion leaders set the principal frames for narrating Europe; such as Ukraine’s most read blogs section at Ukrayins’ka pravda or Russia’s Snob.ru. This will arguably give a more valid and up-to-date overview of what could be thought of as the three countries’ public spheres and Europe’s place in them.

Keywords: Europe, public sphere, Poland, Russia, Ukraine"

"Neste artigo apresentamos a escritora polonesa de origem judaica Hanna Krall por meio da análise literária do seu romance Sublokatorka (A sublocatária).  O romance, com elementos autobiográficos, apresenta a personalidade cindida de uma menina sobrevivente do Holocausto e discute o tema da identidade polonesa, judaica e judaico-polonesa. Através da observação da memória e do processo de criação da memória, a autora mostra a construção da identidade falsa e a repressão da verdadeira, o comportamento comum entre alguns dos sobreviventes.
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""During the "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine, the second largest country in Europe came close to a violent break-up similar to that in neighboring Moldova, which witnessed a violent secession of the Transdniestria region. Numerous elections, including the hotly contested 2004 presidential elections in Ukraine, and surveys of public opinion showed significant regional divisions in these post-Soviet countries. Western parts of Ukraine and Moldova, as well as the Muslim Crimean Tatars, were vocal supporters of independence, nationalist, and pro-Western parties and politicians. In contrast, Eastern regions, as well as the Orthodox Turkic-speaking Gagauz, consistently expressed pro-Russian and pro-Communist political orientations. Which factors ? historical legacies, religion, economy, ethnicity, or political leadership ? could explain these divisions? Why was Ukraine able to avoid a violent break-up, in contrast to Moldova?
This is the first book to offer a systematic and comparative analysis of the regional political divisions in post-Soviet Ukraine and Moldova. The study examines voting behavior and political attitudes in two groups of regions: those which were under Russian, Ottoman, and Soviet rule; and those which were under Austro-Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, and Czechoslovak rule until World War I or World War II. This book attributes the regional political divisions to the differences in historical experience. This study helps us to better understand regional cleavages and conflicts, not only in Ukraine and Moldova, but also in other cleft countries.""

The text refers to the activity of an artistic tandem (an actor, Marcel Szytenchelm and a sculptor, Robert Sobociński), who in the recent years set themselves a goal of decorating Piotrkowska Street in Łódź with cast in bronze figures which create The Gallery of Great People oj Łódź. The process started already in 1999, when the set of sculptures was begun with Tuwim's Bench, performed by Wojciech Gryniewicz. Its artistic level is much higher than the level of the other statues created by another artist. It opened a sort of Pandora's Box to which the activity of the mentioned above duo is being compared to many different circles. Nearly every year a new statue was unvealed: Rubinstein's Piano (2000), Reymonfs Trunk (2001), Originators of Industrial Łódź (2002), Jaracz's Armchair (2006), Lamplighter I Anonymous Electrician (2007). In the following process an irritating problem of appropriating public space as well as artistic production long-term resistant to any control attempts or stoppage. The text, except for a short recall of history and shapes of individual casts, discusses controversy and comments (in majority written down by the local newspapers) that arouse around Sobocińskfs works invented by Szytenchelm. The issue of "monument" artistic activity that does not meet even the lowest artistic standards, and repeatedly infiltrate the space of Polish cities is unfortunately still up-to-date and the authors of more or less caricatural collections of memorial stones (Koszalin, Lublin) or bronze casts (Kraków, Opole, Kielce) seem to be inspired by this inglorious example from Łódź.

This study examines democratic orientations and their determinants in post-Orange Ukraine from the perspective of a political culture theory. The research question is, to what extent is political culture in Ukraine supportive of democracy. This paper uses data from different waves of the Pew Global Attitudes surveys, the World Values Surveys, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems surveys to examine public views towards democracy in Ukraine. The paper compares democratic values in Ukraine with those in Poland and Russia, two similar post-communist countries with differing political cultures and divergent trajectories of democratization. It also examines changes in the levels of pro-democratic attitudes in post-Orange Ukraine compared to the Orange and pre-Orange periods. Finally, this study implements multiple regression analysis of the determinants of democratic attitudes. The analysis shows limited effects of historical democratic legacies and Catholicism on pro-democracy views. With some exceptions, adherents of major parties do not differ significantly in terms of their degree of support for democracy. This study suggests that partially democratic and partially authoritarian political culture impedes the future prospects for consolidated democracy in Ukraine.