2956-4107 Mieczysław Weinberg and the Category of Borderland Nowok-Zych Agnieszka author Akademia Muzyczna im. Karola Szymanowskiego w Katowicach Correspondence to: Agnieszka Nowok-Zych 01 11 2020 Issue 46 (3/2020) English Issues 39 50 Copyright © 2020 2020 <p>Polish musicologist and author Danuta Gwizdalanka titled her publication <em>Mieczysław Wajnberg: kompozytor z trzech światów</em> [<em>Mieczysław Weinberg: Composer from Three Worlds</em>] (Poznań, 2013). Weinberg (1919–1996) was a Polish composer with Jewish roots who spent most of his life in the USSR. Without any doubt, he can be called ‘a composer from the borderland’ due to his ‘hybrid identity’, which was one of the most important reasons that affected the appreciation of Weinberg’s output both during his lifetime and after death. The main ideas of this paper centre on the category of ‘borderland’ and its representations in Weinberg’s biography and oeuvre. According to the typology proposed by Krzysztof Zajas, Weinberg’s life and works can be considered in terms of the following types of borderland: interdisciplinary, spatial, psychological, existential, sociological, and mythological. Through the prism of the category of ‘borderland’, Weinberg’s creative work manifests itself as a highly individual and invaluable testimony of his times, Far from eclectic and epigonic in relation to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich, his oeuvre is unique in the world’s music literature.</p> 1 Babiński G., ‘Przemiany pograniczy narodowych i kulturowych – propozycje typologii’, in R. Stemplowski, A. Żelazo, eds, Polskie pogranicza a polityka zagraniczna u progu XXI wieku (Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych: Warszawa, 2002). 2 Elphick D., Music behind the Iron Curtain. Mieczysław Weinberg and his Polish Contemporaries (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2019). 3 Fanning D., Mieczysław Weinberg: In Search of Freedom (Wolke Verlag: Hofheim, 2010). 4 Gwizdalanka D., Mieczysław Wajnberg: kompozytor z trzech światów (Teatr Wielki im. Stanisława Moniuszki w Poznaniu: Poznań, 2013). 5 Gwizdalanka D., ‘Nieznane fakty z biografii Mieczysława Wajnberga’, https://culture.pl/pl/artykul/nieznane-fakty-z-biografiimieczyslawa-wajnberga, accessed 3 Aug 2019. 6 Ivashkin A., ‘Shostakovich and Schnittke: the erosion of symphonic syntax’, in D. Fanning, ed, Shostakovich. Studies (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1995). 7 Meyer K., Dymitr Szostakowicz i jego czasy (PWN: Warszawa, 1999). 8 Milewska H., ‘Mieczysław Weinberg – muzyczne dziękczynienie’, https://hi-fi.com.pl/sylwetki-muzyczne-lista/740-mieczys%C5%82aw-weinberg-muzyczne-dzi%C4%99kczynienie.html, accessed 3 Aug 2019. 9 Panas W., ‘O pograniczu etnicznym w badaniach literackich’, in T. Michałowska, Z. Goliński, Z. Jarosiński, eds, Wiedza o kulturze i edukacja. Księga referatów Zjazdu Polonistów (Instytut Badań Literackich PAN, Warszawa, 1996). 10 Próchnicki W., ‘Pogranicza bez granic’, in J. Fazan, K. Zajas, eds, Na pograniczach literatury, 21 (Biblioteka Literatury Pogranicza: Kraków, 2012). 11 Zajas K., ‘Widnokresy literatury’ in J. Fazan, K. Zajas, eds, Na pograniczach literatury, 21 (Biblioteka Literatury Pogranicza: Kraków, 2012). 13 Bishops V., ‘Letters from my Father’, meeting with the composer's daughter held as part of the International Conference Mieczysław Weinberg: Between East and West, organised by D. Fanning and M. Assay, Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama (University of Manchester: Manchester, 2019) [unpublished material]. 14 Persson T., Weinberg's last years, speech delivered at the International ConferenceMieczysław Weinberg: Between East and West, organised by D. Fanning and M. Assay, Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama (University of Manchester: Manchester, 2019) [unpublished material].