In search of the truth about what is the object of research. Professor Maria Wichowa in my eyes

The author presents Professor Maria Wichowa, a literary historian from Łódź, who the latest issue of “Rocznik Przemyski. Literatura i Język” is dedicated to. The author does not focus on the Professor’s biography, however, but on a few selected academic achievements, with a view to presenting the Professor as an organizer of academic life, a person, someone whose life has been a perfect embodiment of a university professor. The main motif of the discussion concerns the links between the circles of Łódź and Przemyśl, which – after the death of Professor Jerzy Starnawski – Professor Wichowa has been maintaining and developing. Besides emphasizing Professor Maria Wichowa’s activity at the Łódzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe (Łódź Learned Society) and the Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk w Przemyślu (Society of the Friends of Learning in Przemyśl), the author focuses on his own personal relationship with the protagonist of his article.

“Quo vadis?” Two sermons by Rev. Sebastian Piskorski on the occasion of ordination, vesture and taking vows of Franciszek Szembek’s children – the structure and main issues

This study is devoted to two sermons by Rev. Sebastian Piskorski delivered during the ceremonies of the first mass of Michał Szembek and taking the veil and religious vows by Teresa Franciszka Szembekówna, Nun of the Visitation – both children of Franciszek Szembek. The paper analyzes the roles of particular elements of the sermons in creating a persuasive message whose aim is to accompany the young in their rites of passage. The preacher shows them what the way they have chosen will look like. He makes them realize the significance of the mission they undertake as well as possible difficulties; he introduces them into the special nature of the clergy, showing them what they give up and what they let themselves in for. Those deliberations, referring to the motifs of mystical meal and mystical way, are supposed to assist them in making a free and conscious decision. What is remarkable is the exceptional skill of the preacher, who has based his discussion on Gospel pericopes devoted to certain days of the liturgical calendar. The invention base for the sermons is the Bible and the writings of the Church Fathers. What is also important is estate-related factors: the significance and consequences of the vows taken and the mission Michał and Teresa Franciszka are to undertake once they become part of the clergy. Time showed that it was particularly Teresa Szembekówna that fulfilled her task, as a promoter of the worship of the Heart of Jesus in Poland; her zeal contributed to Pope Clement XIII sanctioning the worship.

Keywords: Sebastian Piskorski, Franciszek Szembek, Michał Szembek, Teresa Szembekówna, sermon at taking religious vows, sermon at First Mass

The land court judge from Przemyśl, Walenty Orzechowski – a forgotten hero of the Sejm in Lublin of 1569

The article remembers a judge from Przemyśl, Walenty Orzechowski (ca. 1527–1588), a highly regarded representative of the nobility of the Ruthenian Province at general assemblies. He repeatedly acted on behalf of the nobility, as exponent of their interests. Yet he remained in the shadow of his better known and controversial cousin Stanisław (1513–1566), a historian, author of political writings, orator and opponent of celibacy.

Keywords: Sejm in Lublin, Polish-Lithuanian Union of Lublin, Walenty Orzechowski, Ruthenian Province, sejmik (assembly) in Vyshnia (Wisznia)

The method of comparative research in the reception of Old Polish literary works. A discourse on researchers’ competences from the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis

The paper discusses the use of the comparative research method to carry out explication of Old Polish literary works. The article has two main research aims: the first one focuses on theoretical aspects of discourse and the Critical Discourse Analysis, which is at the same time a tool to carry out the second aim, i.e. performing discursive activities concerned with the competences of a researcher using the comparative method while interpreting Old Polish literature. The paper consists of two planes. The first one is the completion of theoretical assumption, covering historical overview of the major moments in comparative literature and literary theory. The second plane is specification of the Critical Discourse Analysis in order to detail aspects referring to the comparatist’s research competences.

Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, discourse, comparative literature, literary theory, researcher’s competences, Old Polish literature

Garlands and wreaths in folk culture – symbolism and magic. An outline

The paper analyzes symbolic and magical significance of garlands and wreaths in folk culture. It takes into consideration their shapes and component parts as cultural codes. It presents examples of using woven plants in folk practices, both in rites of passage and in magical activities (fortune-telling, protective magic). It also includes basic analysis of the symbol of a garland in folk songs.

Keywords: garland, wreath, symbol, apotropeion, folk culture, magic

“Pieśń o cnych lisowskich kozakach” (“The Song of Noble Lisowczyks”)

The paper remembers the song “Pieśń o cnych lisowskich kozakach”, whose authorship is disputable. The song was written as part of propaganda directed at the nobility opinion opposed to the actions of the Lisowczyks. Compared with previously published editions, the present one brings out a full message of the song, collects information on the fates of the copies of the first edition and explains misunderstandings resulting from the academic debate going on since the 19th c.

Keywords: “Pieśń o cnych lisowskich kozakach” (“The Song of Noble Lisowczyks”), the Lisowczyks, critical edition, song, Old Polish literature

The Parish in Krasiczyn as a centre of support of democratic opposition and independent peasant movement and a centre of social assistance during martial law in Poland and thereafter

The aim of another publication in “Rocznik Przemyski”, which falls under the project of “oral history”, is to preserve for posterity significant events in the Przemyśl region which took place not so long ago, whose participants are still alive and have agreed to bear first-hand testimonies. This paper focuses on the role of the Roman Catholic St. Martin parish church in Krasiczyn during a crucial period in our history, i.e. the birth of democratic opposition based on the “Solidarity” movement and then public resistance after martial law had been introduced in Poland. The article consists of five parts: introduction, presentation of Rev. Stanisław Bartmiński, calendar of events between 1970 and 2008, accounts by people who in the 1970s and later, particularly during the martial law, had contact with the Krasiczyn parish, and short biographies of the interlocutors and people mentioned in the interviews. The publication is complete with the afterword of the then parish priest, Rev. Stanisław Bartmiński. The collected testimonies show the social, cultural and charity-oriented role of the Krasiczyn church rectory and its head priest, in particular Krasiczyn as the place of meetings of peasant activists who laid the foundations of independent organizations of individual farmers, as a relief centre for democratic opposition activists and later a regional relief center for the people oppressed for their Solidarity activity. Part of the material also concerns organizing in the early 1990s camps for children of Polish origin from Ukraine as well as Ukrainian children harmed during the Chernobyl catastrophe.

Keywords: Krasiczyn, Przemyśl, Roman Catholic church in Krasiczyn, social role of the parish, anti-Communist opposition, martial law, independent peasant movement, “Solidarity”, independent culture, charity, relief for Ukraine