Language:
English
Year of publication:
1999
Titel der Quelle:
Polin; Studies in Polish Jewry
Angaben zur Quelle:
12 (1999) 284-294
Keywords:
Goldman, L. H.
;
Siedlecka, Joanna.
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in literature
Abstract:
Examines the reception of Jerzy Kosinski's novel "The Painted Bird" (1965) by Polish critics; it was received negatively both in communist Poland and by Polish emigres. The second wave of criticism came after 1988, when the novel was translated into Polish, and especially after the publication of Joanna Siedlecka's "Czarny ptasior" (1994), in which the critic fiercely attacks both Kosinski and his novel. Notes that the attacks in the 1960s and in 1988-90s have much in common. Two recurring motifs are the "ingratitude of the Jew" to those who rescued him during the war and a conspiracy of Americans, Germans, and Jews against Poland and its people. Generally, the novel's reception in the 1990s has been more favorable; some critics admit that the novel may reflect reality, that its author had a traumatic Holocaust experience, and that the work is, after all, fiction. The polemics surrounding Kosinski's novel reflect the present state of Polish-Jewish relations and Polish political thought.
Note:
Especially on Joanna Siedlecka's "Czarny ptasior" (1994), about Jerzy Kosinski.
URL:
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