Polish way of revising literary classics
These days in Polish bookstores you can purchase books by Witold Gombrowicz, Gustav Herling-Grudzinski, and Franz Kafka at a big discount. These books are placed in a special section in bookstores, marked by a sign saying: “Giertych Index Books.” This is one of the ways that Polish booksellers are expressing their protest against the decision made by Roman Giertich, Poland’s education minister, who wants to create a new “canon” of Polish and foreign literatures that are part of the school curriculum. The draft of this order was recently published on the Internet site of Poland’s education ministry.
One of Giertych’s main arguments in favor of these changes is that the “canon” of school reading has to build patriotism among students. This has triggered impassioned discussions, and the minister’s decision has encountered opposition from teachers, writers, intellectuals, and booksellers.
Since becoming deputy prime minister and then minister of education, Giertych, the leader of the League of Polish Families, a radical nationalistic party, has repeatedly shocked the Polish and European public with his statements. When he took office, he did not conceal his desire to “improve” the patriotic education of Polish students. His anti-Semitic and anti-homosexual appeals led to some huge scandals, particularly in Europe. Last year, Giertych’s radical attempts to discipline schools and enhance the national component of education were met with mass protests.
This time, the scandal was caused by a revision of Polish and world classics. In addition to these authors, a few more are considered unworthy of study in Polish schools: Fedor Dostoyevsky and Johann Goethe (world literature), and Joseph Conrad and Witkacy, the writer Witkiewicz (Polish literature). Instead, books by John Paul II and his biography should be made an obligatory part of the school curriculum.
From the very beginning Giertych claimed these changes had been coordinated with the teaching community. However, Polish teachers continue to sound the alarm, protesting the minister’s decision. They are convinced that its goal is not to ban just a few authors but the entire system of views and values that they represent. In an open letter to Giertych a group of teachers expressed their concerns. “We cannot agree with the ‘ultimate truth’ that is coming from the ministry, especially because it is often based on pseudo-scientific theories, populist thoughts, and embarrassing stereotypes.”
Most teachers, writers, and intellectuals believe that Giertych’s decision has a certain totalitarian foundation. For example, Poland’s PEN Club writes that the decision will not remove individual works of literature from the school curriculum, but will wipe out a whole layer of modern literature that is critical of the preconditions of totalitarianism. Writer Stefan Chwin is convinced that the aim of the proposed reform is “to educate a Polish pupil in such a way that as an adult he will be fully aware of which party to vote for.” His words are an obvious insinuation that the leader of the League of Polish Families seeks to thrust totalitarianism on Polish society.
Giertych’s decisions concerning literature are generally connected with the “illnesses” that are accompanying the building of the Fourth Rzeczpospolita. “It seems that the Fourth RP does not need the moral dilemmas of Crime and Punishment,” said Adam Kalbarczyk, a Polish studies specialist from Lublin, in a commentary published in Gazeta Wyborcza. “We will cope without the most prominent creators of our literature, who are critical of Polish complexes. This way we’ll enhance the tendencies of provincialism and drown in the gravy of God-and- Motherland self-satisfaction.”
Poland’s education minister has assured his critics that the new list of literature for schools is merely a suggestion and is open to public discussion. He says he’s happy that such discussions are taking place. But he insists on his point, and he would rather choose The Flood by Henryk Sienkiewicz than Trans-Atlantic by Witold Gombrowicz, and has no doubts as to the correctness of his decision.
Discussions are taking place even among the members of the government. Kazimierz Ujazdowski, Poland’s minister of culture, sharply criticized Giertych’s decision, claiming that “the war between Sienkiewicz and Gombrowicz doesn’t make sense.”
It will soon be decided whether Kafka, Dostoyevsky, and Goethe will return to Polish schools. But one thing is certain: it is not ministers who should be deciding what constitutes a literary classic.
