Tributes to Professor Andrzej Kopcewicz

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In the course of the past year there came out three intellectually stimulating DQGFDUHIXOO\HGLWHGERRNVGHGLFDWHGWRWKHPHPRU\RI3URIHVVRU$QGU]HM .RSFHZLF] ļ )RU 3ROLVK $PHULFDQLVWV 3URIHVVRU .RSFHZLF] ZDVWKH)RXQGLQJ)DWKHU7KHğUVW3ROLVKSURIHVVRUZKRVHUHVHDUFKLQWHU-HVWLQ$PHULFDQOLWHUDWXUHZDVIRUPDOO\UHFRJQL]HGDVDbGLVWLQFWLYHğHOGRI VSHFLDOL]DWLRQ$QGU]HM.RSFHZLF]EHFDPHWKH+HDGRIWKHğUVW'HSDUW-ment of American Literature in Poland established at Adam Mickiewicz University. He taught there for many years, acting as academic adviser or external reader for at least two generations of Polish Americanists at prac-tically all universities in the country. His doctoral students and younger colleagues, whose dissertations and habilitationsschrifts he supervised or UHDGDVDbPHPEHURIWKHLUGHJUHHFRPPLWWHHVKDYHE\QRZEHFRPHFKDLUV of American Departments at various Polish institutions of higher educa-tion and have, in turn, educated their own successors.

3URIHVVRU.RSFHZLF]ijVSDWLHQFHDQGNLQGQHVVDVDbUHDGHUDQGDGYLV-er w3URIHVVRU.RSFHZLF]ijVSDWLHQFHDQGNLQGQHVVDVDbUHDGHUDQGDGYLV-ere legendary. So was his 3URIHVVRU.RSFHZLF]ijVSDWLHQFHDQGNLQGQHVVDVDbUHDGHUDQGDGYLV-erudition and his appetite for intellectually VWLPXODWLQJFRQYHUVDWLRQVSLFHGZLWKDbZRQGHUIXOVRPHWLPHVVXEYHUVLYHO\ wicked sense of humor. He graciously set off his position of acknowledged LQWHOOHFWXDODXWKRULW\ZLWKWKHKXPLOLW\RIDbVFKRODUDWWHQWLYHWRGLIIHULQJ opinions and open to learning from his students and younger colleagues. $VXSSRUWLYHDQGLQVSLULQJWHDFKHUDbJHQHURXVIULHQGDQGDbFKDUPLQJSHU-VRQDQDFDGHPLFHQDPRUHGRIKLVGLVFLSOLQH3URIHVVRU.RSFHZLF]ZDONHG through the increasingly pragmatic groves of our academe in the other-ZRUOGO\DXUDRIDbPDQRIOHDUQLQJVRSUHRFFXSLHGZLWKSXUVXLWVRIWKHPLQG WKDWWKHSUDFWLFDOLWLHVRIGDLO\H[LVWHQFHVHHPHGEXWDbQXLVDQFH7KHbWKUHH

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books dedicated to his memory amply testify to the loving admiration and respect he commanded among his students, disciples, friends and col-leagues. Together with their contributions, the books collect Professor .RSFHZLF]ijVODWHHVVD\VNHHSLQJXSRXUFRQYHUVDWLRQZLWKKLPDFURVVWKH Great Divide.

Presenting the volumes in order of their appearance, let me start with selections from Studia Anglica Posnaniensia. Intended to emphasize “the continued presence of American literature in Studia Anglica Posnaniensia VLQFHLWVIRXQGLQJLQĵHGLWRUijV3UHIDFHWKHERRNLVGHGLFDWHGWR3UR-IHVVRU$QGU]HM.RSFHZLF]DVĴWKHORQJHVWVHUYLQJPHPEHURIWKHHGLWRULDO board.” Opposite the title page of the handsomely published volume, its HGLWRUSODFHGDbSDUWLFXODUO\ZDUPSRUWUDLWRI3URIHVVRU.RSFHZLF]WDNHQE\ Jerzy Durczak, probably the best photographic artist among Polish Ameri-canists. Today, the picture must seem unbearably poignant to all of us who KDGEHQHğWHGIURP$QGU]HMijVYDVWNQRZOHGJHDQGXQVWLQWLQJFROOHJLDOVXS-SRUW7KHFROOHFWLRQIHDWXUHVHVVD\VE\LQWHUQDWLRQDODQG3ROLVKDXWKRUV arranged in order of their appearance in the successive issues of the year-ERRN$QGU]HM.RSFHZLF]ijVĴ3RHijV3KLORVRSK\RI&RPSRVLWLRQĵSXEOLVKHG LQWKHğUVWLVVXHRIStudia Anglica Posnaniensia opens the selection, espe-FLDOO\VWURQJRQ$PHULFDQSRHWU\$PRQJWKHHVVD\VRQDbUDQJHRI$PHULFDQ SRHWVIURP'LFNLQVRQ0DJGDOHQD=DSÚGRZVNDWKURXJKWKHPRGHUQLVWV like William Carlos Williams (Marta Sienicka), Marianne Moore and Ger-WUXGH6WHLQ3DXOLQD$PEURĝ\/LVWRFRQWHPSRUDULHVOLNH'DYLG:DJJRQHU -RDQQD'XUF]DN,SDUWLFXODUO\HQMR\HG-RVHSK.XKQijVğQHDUWLFOHGHDOLQJ with the poetry of Allen Tate and John Crowe Ransom, perhaps because, with the fading of New Criticism as the dominant critical approach, their work has undeservedly gone into eclipse as well. Pointing to the frequency with which titles such as “Pastoral,” “Cold Pastoral,” “Eclogue,” or “Idyll” DSSHDULQWKHSRHWLFYROXPHVE\5DQVRPDQG7DWH.XKQijVDUWLFOHĴIJ&ROG 3DVWRUDOij,URQ\DQGWKH(FORJXHLQWKH3RHWU\RI6RXWKHUQ)XJLWLYHVĵSD\V VSHFLDODWWHQWLRQWR7DWHijVĴ7KH6ZLPPHUVĵ2QWKHSHUVRQDOOHYHOWKHSRHP UHYHDOVIRU.XKQĴWKHWHUURULQWKH6RXWKHUQSDVWRUDODQGLWVVXUYLYDOLQWKH DGXOWPHPRU\ĵEXWWKHSRHPLVDOVRĴDNLQGRIKLVWRULFDOSDVWRUDOĵDV it moves beyond the ironic yoking of the pastoral mode and the terrors of Southern racial history, “subduing the violence of nature to ritual without ORVLQJ WKH UDZQHVV RI QDWXUDOLVWLF LPDJHĵ  7KH VWUXJJOH RI WKH ODWH modernists (including, for instance, Elizabeth Bishop) to employ irony as DbWRRORIDVVHUWLQJRUGHUZLWKRXWGLPLQLVKLQJLWVGLVWDQFLQJDQGTXHVWLRQ-LQJSRZHUVHHPVWRPHDbPHDVXUHRIWKHKHURLVPRIWKHLUSURMHFW.XKQijV article shows that effort very well indeed.

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circulation of the image of the machine in its different embodiments, from $GDPVijVG\QDPRWKURXJK6WRFNWRQijVVXEPDULQHWR3\QFKRQijVURFNHWDV the ambivalent symbol of modernity and of the changes it brings about in WKHVSKHUHRIFXOWXUHDQGPRUDOLW\7KHPRVWLQWHUHVWLQJDVSHFWRI.RSFH-ZLF]ijVDQDO\VLVLVKLVDFFHSWDQFHRI6WRFNWRQijVHDUO\VFLHQFHğFWLRQQRYHODV DQĴLQWHUWH[WXDOSDUWQHUWRERWK$GDPVDQG3\QFKRQĵRQWKHEDVLV of the symbolic merging in each variant of the machine image of sexual and technological energy. The three works differ widely in genre and the targeted audience. The essayistic, philosophical-autobiographical

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Rain-bow attempts to represent the condition of western civilization following

World War Two in an intricately fragmented, sprawling novel teeming with characters, subplots, shifts of location, and intertextual clues. In all three WH[WV.RSFHZLF]XQFRYHUVDbVLPLODUIXQFWLRQLQJRIWKHPDFKLQHPHWDSKRU ZKLFKIXVHVRUGLVSODFHV"KXPDQUHSURGXFWLYHZLWKSURGXFWLYHSRZHUV 7KHHVVD\VHHPVWRPHDbVLJQLğFDQWFRQWULEXWLRQWRWKHDQDO\VLVRI$PHUL-can cultural mythography.

.RSFHZLF]ijVDUWLFOHVFROOHFWHGLQIntertextual Transactions in American

and Irish FictionDUHOLQNHGE\WKHDXWKRUijVIDVFLQDWLRQZLWKLQWHUWH[WXDOLW\

DVDbFULWLFDODSSURDFKDVDbPHWKRGRIYLUWXDOO\OLYLQJLQVLGHWKHZRUOGRI OLWHUDWXUHIRU.RSFHZLF]FDOOVKLPVHOIDbSDUDQRLDFRILQWHUWH[WXDOLW\,QKLV persistent tracings of textually incestuous relations in the twentieth centu-ry novel in English, )LQQHJDQV:DNH appears as the Great Father Text. Ever so many paths lead back to Joyce and, especially, to )LQQHJDQV:DNH. It is SHUKDSVXQVXUSULVLQJWRUHDG)ODQQ2ij%ULHQijVAt Swim-Two-Birds alongside )LQQHJDQV:DNH EXW.RSFHZLF]H[WHQGVWKH-R\FHDQJH-QHDORJ\YLHZLQJ*LOEHUW6RUUHQWLQRijVMulligan’s StewDQG'RQDOG %DUWKHOPHijV6QRZ:KLWHDQGThe Dead Father DVFinnegans SURJHQ\,WijVQRWRIFRXUVHDbTXHVWLRQRIGLUHFWERUURZLQJVUDWKHUĽRI transformations of Finnegans PRWLIVDQGJDPHV$VDbORYHURI%DUWKHOPHijV VWRULHV , HVSHFLDOO\ DSSUHFLDWHG .RSFHZLF]ijV DQDO\VHV RI WKH $PHULFDQ ZULWHUijVDIğQLWLHVZLWK-R\FH:KLOHZHXVXDOO\WKLQNRI-R\FHijVZRUNDV the apex of high modernist literary elitism, we tend to think of Barthelme as the most democratically accessible among the so called American post- PRGHUQLVWVOLNH-RKQ%DUWKRU7KRPDV3\QFKRQ.RSFHZLF]ijVHVVD\VOLQN-ing )LQQHJDQV:DNH and the two novels by Barthelme persuasively dem-onstrate the erudition and depth of philosophical insight underlying Bar-WKHOPHijV SOD\IXOQHVV DQG WKH VHHPLQJO\ XQSUHPHGLWDWHG OLJKWQHVV RI KLV style. Intertextual Transactions opens with an essay on “The Intertextual

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Paradigm” which I would like to recommend as introductory reading for graduate students interested in the methodology and practice of intertex-WXDOFULWLFLVP7KHHVVD\FRQWDLQVDbXVHIXOELEOLRJUDSK\ 7KHWKLUGRIWKHFRPPHPRUDWLYHERRNVLVDbFROOHFWLRQRIHVVD\VRQ 0HOYLOOHijVFODVVLFWDOHĴ%DUWOHE\WKH6FULYHQHUĵE\VL[3ROLVKDXWKRUVZLWK -RVHSK.XKQZKRKDVWDXJKWDW$GDP0LFNLHZLF]8QLYHUVLW\IRUVRORQJ WKDWRQHQRORQJHUWKLQNVRIKLPDVDbIRUHLJQVFKRODU7KHERRNRSHQVZLWK $QGU]HM.RSFHZLF]ijVHVVD\RQĴ'DUN5RRPVDQG%DUWOHE\$Q,QWHUWH[WXDO Reading,” an essay included also in the volume of Intertextual Transactions. ,WVDXWKRUSODFHVĴ%DUWOHE\ĵLQWKHFRQWH[WRI3DXO$XVWHUijVCity of Glass, (PHUVRQijV Ĵ7KH 2YHU 6RXOĵ %RUJHVijV VWRU\ Ĵ*RGijV 6FULSWĵ DQG 5REHUW %XUWRQijV The Anatomy of Melancholy SHUVXDVLYHO\ LQWHJUDWLQJ 0HOYLOOHijV text into the literary discourse investigating and calling “into question the concept of transcendental self-reliance” across temporal, spatial, and cul-tural divides.

Among the essays collected in this book, I was particularly moved by 7DGHXV]6ïDZHNijVPHGLWDWLRQRQĴ%DUWOHE\ĵDVDQLQFRQFOXVLYHFRQVLGHU- DWLRQRIWKHSRVVLEOH"SUDFWLFDEOH"GHVLUDEOH"ZLVH"PRGHVRIWKHLQGLYLG-XDOijVEHLQJLQWKHZRUOGRIEHLQJWKHUHDVDQLQWHJUDOVROLWDU\LPPXWDEOH VHOIEXWDOVRDVDbSDUWLFLSDQWLQWKHFRQWUDFWXDOFKDQJHDEOHVRFLDOUHDOLW\,V any kind of wise compromise between the two equally necessary modes RIRXUEHLQJDWDOOSRVVLEOH":KDWDUHWKHFRQVHTXHQWGDQJHUVDQGLOOVRI XQKHVLWDQWFRPPLWPHQWWRHLWKHUPRGH"7RP\PLQGWKDWLVWKHFHQWUDO DJRQL]LQJGLOHPPDQRWRQO\RIĴ%DUWOHE\ĵEXWRI0HOYLOOHijVZKROHZRUN WKHPRVWSURIRXQGVRXUFHRIKLVFUHDWLYLW\EXWDOVRĽRIKLVORQJFUHDWLYH LPSRWHQFHDQGSHUVRQDOVXIIHULQJ.HHSLQJWKHODZ\HULQWKHFHQWHURIKLV PHGLWDWLRQ6ïDZHNUHDGVWKHVWRU\DVDbQDUUDWLYHRIWKHHVVHQWLDOO\SUXGHQW SXEOLFPDQijVDZDNHQLQJWRWKHSDLQIXOLPSHUDWLYHRIDWOHDVWDFNQRZOHGJLQJ the reality of existence outside the safety of his smoothly managed, wall HQFORVHGRIğFHLDOZD\RIOLIH)RFXVHGDWWKHEHJLQQLQJRIWKHVWRU\RQ IXQFWLRQDODGMXVWPHQWWRGLIIXVHWKHFRQĠLFWWKHODZ\HUDSSHDUVE\WKH VWRU\ijVHQGDVKHOSOHVVO\H[SRVHGWRWKHHQLJPDRIEHLQJDVĴDFUHDWXUHĵ stripped of protective barriers of possessive authority and pragmatic ef- ğFLHQF\VWULSSHGHYHQRIERGLO\DSSHWLWHV\HWSDUDGR[LFDOO\DZDUHLQFRQ-frontation with death, of being as spiritual (in opposition to legal) bond. :LWKKLVZLGHHUXGLWLRQDQGLQFOLQDWLRQWRVXEWOHSKLORVRSKLFDOUHĠHFWLRQ WKH FOHDQ VLPSOLFLW\ RI 6ïDZHNijV VW\OH IHHOV QREOH LQ LWV FRQFHUQ IRU WKH reader and in its emphasis on the primacy of meaning as opposed to de-light in the brilliance of wording. The latter feature mars for me Janusz 6HPUDXijVFRQWULEXWLRQĴIJ+HZRXOGGRQRWKLQJLQWKHRIğFHZK\VKRXOG KH VWD\ WKHUH"ij 'RPHVWLFDWLQJ %DUWOHE\ĵ 6HHLQJ %DUWOHE\ DV Db ğJXUH ĴLQ between,” contesting borders and categorical divisions, Semrau seems to

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more interested in displaying verbal virtuosity than in achieving clarity of insight and argument.

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Bringing the three collections of essays to the attention of the readers RIWKHğUVWLVVXHRIText Matters,DOVRZDQWWRMRLQWKHLUHGLWRUDQGFRQ-WULEXWRUVLQUHPHPEHULQJ3URIHVVRU$QGU]HM.RSFHZLF]LQSD\LQJWULEXWH WR+LPDVFROOHDJXHIULHQGDQGUROHPRGHOIRUE\QRZTXLWHDbVL]DEOH group of Polish scholars and lovers of American literature.

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The internet is eating up newspapers. The New Media are having dramatic effects on all parts of American culture and on all types of Old Media, but newspapers seem to be suffering the most. Basically, the internet is taking away newspaper readers, lowering the value of information, and destroy-LQJWKHQHZVSDSHUijVWUDGLWLRQDOUHYHQXHVRXUFH7KHIXWXUHORRNVUDWKHU JULPLI\RXDUHDbQHZVSDSHUHGLWRUUHSRUWHURUUHDGHU

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,WZDVZD\EDFNLQWKDWWKHQXPEHURI86KRXVHKROGVVXEVFULE-ing to internet access outnumbered those subscrib,WZDVZD\EDFNLQWKDWWKHQXPEHURI86KRXVHKROGVVXEVFULE-ing to daily newspapers 'LPLWURYDDQG1H]DQVNL6LQFHWKHQQHZVDXGLHQFHEHKDYLRUVKDYH changed dramatically. The number of Integrators, those who get their QHZVIURPDbYDULHW\RIVRXUFHVDQG1HW8VHUVWKRVHZKRJHWWKHLUQHZV SULPDULO\IURPWKHLQWHUQHWKDYHLQFUHDVHGFRPSULVLQJDWOHDVWRIWKH $PHULFDQQHZVDXGLHQFHĴ.H\1HZV$XGLHQFHVĵ)RUWKRVHXQGHU \HDUVRIDJHDbIXOOJHWPRVWRIWKHLUQDWLRQDODQGLQWHUQDWLRQDOQHZV from the internet (“Press Accuracy”). Peter Johnson reports that now “ev-eryone is consuming their own kind of mix of media . . . [so that] most news consumers now get their news from four different types of media LQDbW\SLFDOZHHNĵUHIHUULQJWRDbPL[RIEURDGFDVW79FDEOHDQGVDWHOOLWH UDGLRQHZVSDSHUVDQGWKHLQWHUQHW$3HZ&HQWHUIRUWKH3HRSOHDQG