Sienkiewicz unknown. A project by dr Magdalena Matkowska-Jerzyk
In 2023, Magdalena Matkowska-Jerzyk, a journalist and bohemian, carried out a project entitled „Czeskim śladem Henryka Sienkiewicza” (“Along the Czech trace of Henryk Sienkiewicz”) in the film category thanks to a grant awarded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. The script of the documentary is the result of a year-long labor. It presents the topic of the popularity of the works by the Polish Nobel Prize winner with our southern neighbours.
The works of the Pole first attracted interest in the Czech lands, then in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, which is a phenomenon on a European scale. To date, however, there is no popular scientific study that would bring this interesting issue closer to the general public.
In the developed script, the author spins a colourful tale based on the findings of researchers into the history of Polish-Czech relations and literature. In this story, Czech characters, including doc. Roman Baron from the Czech Academy of Sciences and Lucie Zakopalová from the Polish Institute in Prague, reveal the Czech and Sienkiewicz-like world to the audience. The novels of our writer, perceived by Czech-speaking readers in a different way than the one we have known so far, shed new light on his works, allowing to put them in a non-obvious way, lacking pathos.
– The Czechs had a dual attitude towards Sienkiewicz: on the one hand, they admired him as a writer of great measure, and on the other hand, they considered him to be an exponent of a “typical Polish” way of life, such as the nobility, slightly reckless, choosing war or revolution as a means of securing their national existence, etc. A great writer, from a linguistically close country – a reason for “Slavic” pride and admiration, but on the other hand, the irony in the face of fighting “with fire and sword”, thus armed – comments prof. Zofia Tarajło-Lipowska, a prominent expert on Czech history.
Sienkiewicz’s descriptions fascinate our southern neighbours, creating a vision of the Polish nobility in their imagination with all the entourage – from character traits to clothing. The artistry of Sienkiewicz’s novels, combined with the Czechoslovak worldview resulting from historical and social conditions, meant that Sienkiewicz’s most popular works were presented in Czechoslovakia not only in repeatedly reissued book series but also in a series of comic books published in children’s and youth magazines, which attracted great interest among readers. In 2016, the gauntlet was thrown down to young visual artists in the Czech Republic: it was meant to be a modern interpretation of the quote from the tenth book of “Ogniem i mieczem” (“With Fire and Sword”) in the format of comic book speech bubbles. The short comic series was created as part of a competition organised by the Polish Institute in Prague in celebration of the Year of Henryk Sienkiewicz, and contemporary artists have framed them in a new interpretation. These frameworks and interpretations are discussed on the pages of the script by cartoonists and comic book experts.
Quotations of the writer’s works, rich archival materials, and artistic value in the era of hand-painted films are the main qualities of the implemented project. The most notable Czechoslovak politicians, writers, and common citizens were involved in the incredible story of bringing Henryk Sienkiewicz’s ashes to Poland, which was included in the script.
The project is carried out as part of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage 2023 scholarship.
HERE YOU CAN LISTEN TO AN INTERVIEW WITH DR MAGDALENA MATKOWSKA-JERZYK (RADIO WROCŁAW).
Translated by Wiktoria Łapka (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
