Maria Janion (24 December 1926 – 23 August 2020) was a Polish

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

literary theorist Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mora ...

and

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

, as well as a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. She was a professor at the Institute of Literary Research of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

, specialising in literary

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. Janion was also a member of the

Polish Academy of Learning The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning (, PAU), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of sciences (the other being the Po ...

. She held an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from Gdańsk University.

Life and career

She was born on 24 December 1926 in Mońki,

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

, to father Cyprian Janion and mother Ludwika (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Kurdyk). Until 1945 she resided in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, where she graduated from secondary school and spent the years of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She was a member of the

Polish Scouting and Guiding Association The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association (, ZHP) is the coeducational Poland, Polish Scouting organization recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. It was founded in ...

(Polish: , ZHP), which was affiliated with the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

, and worked as a liaison officer. After the war, she and her family moved to

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

as a result of the postwar population transfers. In 1945, she passed the ''

Matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

'' high school leaving exam in

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

. She studied

Polish studies Polish studies, Polish philology or Polonistics (, or ''polonistyka'') is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates the Polish language and Polish literature in both historic and present-day forms. The history of Polish ...

at the

University of Łódź The University of Łódź (, ) is a public research university founded in 1945 in Łódź, Poland, as a continuation of three higher education institutions functioning in Łódź in the interwar period — the Teacher Training Institute (192 ...

. Since 1946, she attended a

literary criticism A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...

course run by Stefan Żółkiewski of the weekly magazine. In 1947, she started to publish her own articles and reviews and joined the Academic Union of Youth Struggle "Life". In 1948, she became a member of the editorial staff of the ("Countryside") weekly. In 1948, she was employed at the Institute of Literary Research of the

where she worked until her retirement in 1996. Between the years 1948 and 1978 she was an active member of the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party (, ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other legally permitted subordinate minor parti ...

. In 1951, she obtained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. In 1957, she started to work at the Higher Pedagogical School in

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

(WSP). In 1968, she was appointed head of the Department of History of 19th-Century Literature. After the events of March 1968, she was dismissed from her position at the WSP as the communist authorities were concerned about her growing influence on the university students. Her lectures placed emphasis on revolutionary and libertarian aspects of Romanticism which did not adhere to the official and generally accepted interpretation of the literary canon and encouraged her students to adopt a bold, defiant and original perspective on

Polish literature Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Latin, ...

. After the establishment of the University of Gdańsk, she began to work at the Faculty of Polish Philology. In 1970 Janion joined secret societies aimed against communism in Poland. She was one of the founders of an independent Society of Study Courses. In 1973, she received the title of humanities professor. In 1979, she became a member of the

Polish Writers' Union The Polish Writers' Union or the Union of Polish Writers (, ZLP) was established at a meeting of Polish writers and activists in Lublin behind the Soviet front line, during the liberation of Poland by the Red Army in 1944. Its initial name (Prof ...

(). She became more critical of the imposed views and values in regards to Polish literature, both classical and contemporary, and to Polish views on war, soldiers, heroism, military uprisings and

martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloqui ...

. In 1976 she published a study on war and form, discussing the recently published Private Journal of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

by poet Miron Białoszewski. Because she described the journal as a work portraying war and uprising from a civil, non-mythological, non-heroic perspective, she was widely criticized. She was accused, like Miron Białoszewski, of disgracing Polish values. Her independent opinions, which won respect among students and academic members, as well as her connections to the opposition, caused her to become a potential enemy of the state. When the

Solidarity movement Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

began, Janion signed the letter issued by 64 intellectuals supporting the strikes, yet calling for actions that would not contribute to bloodshed. In 1981 she made an appearance at the Congress of Polish Culture, which was interrupted by the introduction of

martial law in Poland Martial law in Poland () existed between 13 December 1981 and 22 July 1983. The Polish United Workers' Party, government of the Polish People's Republic drastically restricted everyday life by introducing martial law and a military junta in an a ...

. She called for the huge national movement, which was so far mainly driven by passion, to be turned into an intellectual effort. In the 1990s, she joined the Society for Humanism and Independent Ethics (). In 1989, she became a member of the Polish Writers' Association and in 1991 the Polish

PEN Club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internati ...

. In 1994, she was awarded an

from the University of Gdańsk. Between 1997 and 2004 she served on the jury of the

Nike Award The Nike Literary Award (, pronounced ) is a literary prize awarded each year for the best book of a single living author writing in Polish and published the previous year. It is widely considered the most important award for Polish literatu ...

, Poland's top literary prize, and from 2000 to 2004 she worked as chairperson of the jury. From 1992 until 2010, she continued to give open lectures at the Institute of Sociology and Philosophy of the

. She died at the age of 93 in Warsaw on 23 August, 2020.

Romanticism as a revolution of thought

According to Janion, Romanticism is a revolution of thought which allows different insights into history, nature and humanity. She stressed that in Romanticism with time there is increasing importance of a sense of the absurd and

grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German, as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

with regard to existence, expressed in

irony Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...

and melancholy. She traces the birth of Romanticism to the re-discovery of the modern "self", which in the beginning primarily manifested itself in

individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote realizing one's goals and desires, valuing independence and self-reliance, and a ...

exploring the experience and the mystery of a particular existence. The Romantic imagination revealed a new reality: an inner world of dreams and phantasms. She introduced the idea of the "subconscious human" expressing previously hidden and repressed thoughts even though there still remained various spheres of suppression. The Romantic liberation was made possible thanks to the rejection of

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

and its dogmatic and one-dimensional understanding of

tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

, which restricted imagination. The Romantic multilateral and pluralistic perspective on tradition became the basis for the new cultural

paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm ( ) is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. The word ''paradigm'' is Ancient ...

. However, in her work ''The Romantic Fever'', she demonstrates that Romanticism could not hold itself to a static and unambiguous system — not even among its epigones, since they merely reinforced its antinomies and transformed them into stereotypes. In her books, she discussed numerous aspects of this new paradigm such as the new

Romantic hero The Romantic hero is a literary archetype referring to a character that rejects established norms and conventions, has been rejected by society, and has themselves at the center of their own existence. The Romantic hero is often the protagonist i ...

; a radical violation of the

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

; re-exploration of the hidden and forgotten which led to the ennobling of

vernacular culture Vernacular culture is the cultural forms made and organised by ordinary, often indigenous people, as distinct from the high culture of an elite. One feature of vernacular culture is that it is informal. Such culture is generally engaged in on a ...

s (

folk culture Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes mat ...

in particular, but also pagan, Slavic, Nordic and Oriental cultures); the concept of

nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

as a model; a mode of existence which in an inevitable way identifies creation with destruction or even self-destruction and life with death; the understanding of history as a

theophany Theophany () is an encounter with a deity that manifests in an observable and tangible form.. It is often confused with other types of encounters with a deity, but these interactions are not considered theophanies unless the deity reveals itse ...

; the dramatic philosophy of existence stretching from salvation to nothingness; as well as suppressed existential experiences (that of a child, madman or a woman).

''Uncanny Slavdom''

In the book ("Uncanny Slavdom"), Janion deployed

Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...

's concept of

Orientalism In art history, literature, and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of the Eastern world (or "Orient") by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. Orientalist painting, particularly of the Middle ...

to prove that in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

Western Slavs The West Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak the West Slavic languages. They separated from the common Slavic group around the 7th century, and established independent polities in Central Europe by the 8th to 9th centuries. The West Slavic langu ...

underwent colonization by

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. According to Janion, Poles entering the realm of Latin influence severed them from pagan tradition and has become for them a source of trauma, which continues to affect their present collective identity. This interpretation has been challenged by Dariusz Skórczewski as a misapplication of

postcolonial theory Postcolonialism (also post-colonial theory) is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and th ...

and a misinterpretation of the role of Christianity in the Polish lands.

Personal life

She publicly

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

as a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

in book entitled ''.'' She actively promoted feminism in Poland and was known for her criticism of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

and

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

Awards and honours

* Award for the book ("Romanticism, Revolution, Marxism"), 1972 *Polish Academy of Sciences Secretary Award for the book ("Romantic Fever"), 1977 *Polish Academy of Sciences Secretary Award for the book ("Romanticism and History") co-written with Maria Żmigrodzka, 1979 * Jurzykowski Prize, 1980 *Honorary degree at the University of Gdańsk, 1994 *Great Culture Foundation Award (), 1999 *

Kazimierz Wyka Kazimierz Wyka (19 March 1910 – 19 January 1975) was a Polish literary historian, literary critic, and professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków following World War II. He was a deputy to the Polish parliament (Sejm) from 1952 to 1956 ...

Award, 2001 *Amicus Hominis et Veritatis Prize, 2005 *Golden Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis, 2007 * Paszport Polityki Award, 2007 *Finalist of the

for the book , 2007 *Splendor Gedanensis Award, 2007 *Award of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, 2009 *"Hiacynt"

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

Award conferred by the Equality Foundation, 2009 *Special Award of the Congress of Women, 2010 *

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

, (France), 2012 * Jan Parandowski PEN Club Prize, 2018

Published works

In Polish: *'' Lucjan Siemieński,'' , PIW, Warsaw, 1955 *'' Zygmunt Krasiński,'' , Wiedza Powszechna, Warsaw, 1962 *, PIW, Warsaw, 1969 *, ("Romanticism, Revolution,

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

"), Wydawnictwo Morskie, Gdańsk, 1972 *, PIW, Warsaw, 1974 *, ("Romantic Fever"), PIW, Warsaw, 1975 * ("Romanticism and History"), co-written with Maria Żmigrodzka, PIW, Warsaw, 1978 *, ("The Refurbishment of Meanings"), Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków, 1980 *, PIW, Warsaw, 1984 *, ("In View of Evil"), Verba, Chotomów, 1989 *, ("The Posthumous Life of

Konrad Wallenrod ''Konrad Wallenrod'' is an 1828 narrative poem, in Polish language, Polish, by Adam Mickiewicz, set in the 14th-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Mickiewicz wrote it, while living in St. Petersburg, Russia, in protest against the late-18th-cen ...

"), PIW, Warsaw, 1990 * ("The Project of Phantasmatic Criticism"), PEN, Warsaw, 1991 *, Gdańsk, 1994 *, ("Women and the Spirit of Dissidence"), Warsaw, 1996 *, Warsaw, 1996 *, Warsaw, 1998 *, co-written with Maria Żmigrodzka, Aureus, Kraków, 1998 * ("To Europe : Yes, but Together with our Dead"), Warsaw, 2000 *, Gdańsk, 2001 *, ("Living to Lose Live"), W.A.B., Warsaw, 2001 * ("Vampire: A Symbolic Biography"), Gdańsk, 2002 *, ("Romanticism and Existence") with Maria Żmigrodzka, 2004 *, WL, Kraków, 2006 In English: *''Hero, Conspiracy, and Death: The Jewish Lectures'', translated by Alex Shannon (2014) *"Poland Between the West and the East", translated by Anna Warso (2014), i
Teksty Drugie
1, pp. 13-33. Special Issue – English Edition (http://rcin.org.pl/Content/51830/WA248_71041_P-I-2524_janion-poland.pdf)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janion, Maria 1926 births 2020 deaths Lesbian feminists Lesbian academics Polish literary critics Polish women literary critics Polish feminists Polish United Workers' Party members Marxist feminists Members of the Polish Academy of Learning Members of the Polish Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis University of Warsaw alumni Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Polish atheists People from Mońki People from Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939) Polish women academics Polish lesbian writers Goethe scholars