22 (2/2025)

2025

Publication date: 12.2025

Description

The publication of this volume was financed by the Jagiellonian University in Kraków – Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilisations and the Strategic Program Excellence Initiative at the Jagiellonian University.

Licence: CC BY 4.0

Editorial team

Editor-in-Chief Agata Świerzowska

Deputy Editor-in-Chief Bożena Prochwicz-Studnicka

Secretary Anna Kuchta

Issue Editors Bożena Prochwicz-Studnicka, Agata Świerzowska

Issue content

Wstęp

Bożena Prochwicz-Studnicka, Agata Świerzowska

The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series, 22 (2/2025), 2025, pp. 7-9

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Articles

Idea wolności w opowieści Andrzeja Struga Wyspa zapomnienia

Anna Chudzińska-Parkosadze

The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series, 22 (2/2025), 2025, pp. 11-27

https://doi.org/10.4467/24506249PJ.25.002.22402

This article deals with the theme of freedom in the biography and in the artistic works of Andrzej Strug, especially in his long short story The Island of Forgetfulness. Strug was a leader of the Polish masonic organisation in the 1920–1929 period. However, masonic ideas were not widely presented in all of his works of prose. Nevertheless, The Island of Forgetfulness is the exception off this rule. Masonic symbols and themes create the matrix of the imaginary world in this tale. The model of initiation, which is based on masonic and esoteric symbols, forms the core of the text’s structure. The hero believes that the idea of freedom means liberation from the world of people, but eventually he turns out to be wrong, because he could not escape from himself, from his own crimes. The initiation model used in the analysis of the hero’s plot line consists of seven phases: 1) preparation (“awaking”), 2) “the darkness of the senses” (katharsis), 3) creation act, 4) illumination, 5) “the darkness of the soul”, 6) rite de passage (death motif), 7) unio oppositorum. Finally, the hero in Strug’s tale could not successfully complete his initiation and went mad.

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Exploring the Socio-Cultural Relevance and Artistic Potential of Bambusa vulgaris in Ghana: A Sustainable Approach to Indigenous Craft and Design Innovation

Samuel Teye Daitey, Dickson Adom, Steve Kquofi, Edwin Kwesi Bodjawah, William Daitey

The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series, 22 (2/2025), 2025, pp. 29-56

https://doi.org/10.4467/24506249PJ.25.003.22403

This study deconstructs the socio-cultural aesthetics of Bambusa vulgaris in Ghana, its use in art, as well as its economic and environmental value. A qualitative research approach via interviews, observation, and document study has been applied to collect data from the artists, cultural historians, and industry practitioners. The findings of the study conclude that bamboo is the quintessence of Ghanaian architecture, religious practice, and craft. Moreover, bamboo is increasingly used by contemporary artists for sculpture, fashion, and interior decoration due to its sustainability and multifunctionality. Economically speaking, bamboo businesses are expanding in a specific manner, primarily for furniture production and green handicrafts, providing wood craftsmen with an economical but eco-friendly alternative over wood. However, challenges such as inadequate formal education, conservation concerns, and ineffective policies all hinder bamboo’s maximum potential. The study examines institutional demands for assistance, disciplined bamboo craftsmanship education, and preservation culture in galvanising the use of bamboo in new sectors. Bamboo is an immediate cultural product for artistic output with strong economic, progressive and sustainable values. Ghana, having endured past hardship, can harness bamboo’s potential in driving sustainable development and innovation.

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Wolna szkoła w wolnej Polsce. O szkole waldorfskiej i polskim przełomie demokratycznym

Maja Dobiasz-Krysiak

The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series, 22 (2/2025), 2025, pp. 57-72

https://doi.org/10.4467/24506249PJ.25.004.22404

In this article I present the circumstances that found this German educational alternative – the Waldorf school associated with the German Reform Pedagogy – many supporters in Poland around 1989. I analyse the interwar sources of Waldorf pedagogy in the country. I follow the initiatives around the democratic breakthrough of 1989 and the conditions for the return of the idea of the Waldorf school to Poland. I also examine the Waldorf organisational categories of community, holism, ritual and art, which testify to its specificity. I therefore look at the culture of the Polish democratic breakthrough and the Waldorf category of freedom willingly adapted in Poland. The notion of “freedom” helped include the Waldorf school within the broader movement to socialise education in Poland.

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Grasping the Elusive: Julian Ochorowicz’s Theory of Mediumship

Anna Mikołejko

The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series, 22 (2/2025), 2025, pp. 73-85

https://doi.org/10.4467/24506249PJ.25.005.22405

This article explores the theory of mediumship proposed by Julian Ochorowicz (1850–1917), a Polish positivist thinker and scientist. Ochorowicz’s objective was to establish mediumship as a scientific discipline distinct from spiritualism, which he criticised for its ideological and dogmatic nature. He advanced the theory that a multitude of purportedly paranormal phenomena could be elucidated through unconscious psychological and physiological mechanisms, including ideoplasty and involuntary muscle movements. However, he also hypothesised the existence of a ‘dynamic atmosphere’ or an etheric body – an invisible, subtle part of the human organism capable of acting beyond the physical body. The concept under discussion aimed to establish a connection between matter and spirit, imagination and physical reality. Notwithstanding the opposition mounted by the academic establishment and the subsequent decline of the ether theory following the advent of relativity, Ochorowicz’s theories foreshadowed aspects of subsequent advancements in quantum theory, thus constituting an intriguing endeavour to comprehend the unexplained through the lens of scientific methodology.

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Dyskurs narodowy w przedwojennej prasie ezoterycznej. Kongres ezoteryczny w Poznaniu 1936 a sprawa polska

Urszula Patocka-Sigłowy, Monika Rzeczycka

The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series, 22 (2/2025), 2025, pp. 89-99

https://doi.org/10.4467/24506249PJ.25.006.22406

This text outlines the most important trends related to national themes in esoteric discourse and analyses a specific example of such nationalesoteric discourse in press reports from the First Polish Esoteric Congress, published in 1937 in “Hejnal” and “Lotos” – very influential local occult magazines.
National threads were blatant and constantly present in the esoteric discourse in pre-war Poland, and they grew in strength and frequency as echoes of current important political events, and as comments on events independent of big politics. References to national issues, most often glorifying the patriotic attitude, were treated by Polish occultists as particularly important in understanding various esoteric concepts or esoteric philosophy in general. The esoteric philosophy of the early 20th century itself, regardless of the specificity of a particular trend, group or organisation, assumed a specific way of thinking, conducive to emphasising national themes.
The idea of Poland’s mission, of offering the Polish idea to other nations, a thought that sounds dangerous today in the light of historical knowledge about the consequences of all nationalist ideologies, recurred like a refrain in Polish pre-war esoteric publications. It is therefore not surprising that it appeared where the paths of various initiation schools first crossed, i.e. at the national meeting of esotericists in 1936. And although the community was not fully represented at this congress, the Polish messianic idea and, above all, Polish missionism turned out to be the strongest and most resonant thread connecting various initiatory trends in pre-war Poland.

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What is a Meme Coin? Dogecoin to the Moon!

Adrian Stencel

The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series, 22 (2/2025), 2025, pp. 101-144

https://doi.org/10.4467/24506249PJ.25.007.22407

The rise of cryptocurrencies has shaped the current economic landscape, while also raising many conceptual issues. This paper tackles one problem. One widely known fact about cryptocurrencies is the existence of meme coins, such as Dogecoin (DOGE) or Shiba Inu (SHIB), which are very popular as assets for retail investors; accordingly, their dynamics have been studied to some extent by economists. However, to date no one has attempted to focus on a basic conceptual question upon which, to a certain degree, all of these studies depend: what is a meme coin? This paper addresses this question. By analysing paradigmatic examples, I argue that meme coins should be defined as a cryptocurrency characterised by three properties: i) community first, ii) posterior utility, and iii) zeronomics. The paper concludes by presenting an outline of scientific challenges and problems where the proposed concept of a meme coin could prove useful, highlighting potential applications and areas for further exploration.

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Imaginatio Mundi

Stworzenie Adama według midraszu Bereszit rabba. Przekład i komentarz

Wojciech Kosior

The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series, 22 (2/2025), 2025, pp. 145-160

https://doi.org/10.4467/24506249PJ.25.008.22408

Midrash Ber. Rab. 8 offers a survey of the most prominent rabbinic interpretations of the biblical narrative of the creation of man (Gen 1–2). The Jewish sages address such topics as the original appearance and nature of Adam, the role of angels in anthropogenesis, and the meaning of human existence. All this makes this midrash particularly well suited for didactic purposes, serving as an exemplary illustration of the rabbinic mode of thought. This article contains a dynamic translation of this text, accompanied by an introduction and commentary.

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