After the transition of 1989 numerous texts were published dealing with travels in the (post-)Galician space. Being part of a long tradition of travels to Austrian Galicia from late eighteenth century, present-day travel leads to a historical space that does not exist anymore but is present in literature, different national narratives and family lore. The article concentrates on one group of these texts in Polish and German literature – transgenerational travels. Using the example of Sabrina Janesch’s novel Katzenberge (2010), the paper traces travels along the tracks of her own family history. The travelers are mainly descendants of “Galicians” who emigrated or were resettled. The paper claims that the aim of the texts is to reconstruct the stories of the travellers’ ancestors and their own through the journey and make them accessible to future generations. Furthermore, the texts revise the inherited images of Galicia: they do not reject but rather update them.
 

The Upper Silesian author Arthur Silbergleit is less known than his compatriot, Horst Bienek, who immortalized Silbergleit in his Gleiwitzer Tetralogie. Silbergleit was a prolific poet: apart from his prose, he wrote about 600 poems. His work is influenced by his descent and his personal experience oft the First World War. The following thesis is an attempt at interpretation of the war discourse in his works written during or after the war: in the poetry collections Flandern (1916) and Balalaika (1918), in the story Der Fremde and in the collection of lyrical miniatures Das Füllhorn Gottes. Pastele (1919). My analysis shows, that Silbergleit employs Christian and mythological motifs; his intention is to universalize the experience of the war and to depict it as a complex metaphor.
 

The above work is an attempt to identify metric units characteristics of the classical poetry, especially the Greek one, in futuristic lyrics. The works by two outstanding representatives of Ukrainian and Russian futurism were analyzed. As for their construction, the verses have to be defined as polimetric. On the example of these verses it is possible to trace the sophisticated combination of metric units from which the classical Greek lyrics originated. Deliberate usage of the elements of Greek prosody is suppositional. Although this fact has been supported by certain evidence, it was never declared openly by the authors.
The problem of the presence of classical metric units in futuristic poetry has only been outlined in the present research. Undoubtedly it constitutes a vast area to be researched and opens the unexplored horizons of semantics hidden in the form of futuristic poetry.
 

In this essay we offer a preliminary discussion of Biermann’s phenomenally successful rendering of Katsenelson’s elegy. First, we place Biermann’s attempt in a wider historical and biographical context to throw some light on his motivation to grapple with the text written in a language he did not know (Yiddish) and thus was forced to rely on a literal version provided by a native speaker. Second, we provide some examples from the work in question of Biermann’s more general attitude to translation, as epitomized by the Yiddish phrase he likes to quote: ‘fartaytsht un farbesert’ (translated and improved). We conclude that Biermann’s adaptation should be assessed first of all as an act of cross-cultural communication rather than according to the criteria of strictly textual equivalence.
 

This paper aims to analyse the universality of blackness and Catholicism in Senghor’s poetic book Black Hosts. Firstly, we observe seminary formation of the poet-president as well as French Catholic writers infl uence on his poetry (Chardin, Claudel, Péguy). Secondly, we study the genesis of Black Hosts, its historical context and poet’s favourite subjects as charity, fraternity, friendship or forgiveness. In addition, we will also examine how Senghor paints the evil of war by using Christian mythology symbols. Moreover, Senegalese poet depicts the experience of black soldiers used as cannon fodder during World War II. Although the founder of the Francophonie never questions what he owes to France, he fi ercely denounces the colonialist Europe. However, Senghor is imbued with Catholic faith that refuses hatred and eventually forgives as Jesus Christ on the cross. To put it differently, roots of his universalism are fundamentally Christian as evidenced by his poem Prayer for peace. Yet, despite the evocation of death, humiliation, suffering and pain, Senghor’s message of love does not change. Finally, Black Hosts ends with universal brotherhood idea and a promise of a new world, redeemed by African soldiers sacrifi ce, offered to humanity as spiritual and fraternal food.