Knowledge in the Shadow of Catastrophe

The volume offers the collection of essays penned by eighteen luminous minds of the 20th century humanities and social sciences in Poland: Stefan Amsterdamski, Nina Assorodobraj-Kula, Bronislaw Baczko, Jan Blonski, Jolanta Brach-Czaina, Michal Glowinski, Oskar Hansen, Maria Janion, Jerzy Jedlicki, Antonii Kepinski, Anna Pawelczynska, Krzysztof Pomian, Mieczyslaw Porebski, Jan Strzelecki, Wladyslaw Strzeminski, Jerzy Szacki, Jerzy Topolski, and Andrzej Turowski. Celebrated as canonical within their respective fields, these works resonate profoundly in academic as well as social environment today. What lies at the centre of this collection is political and historical turbulence – the experience of the horror of war and destruction, always a point of reference for any form of political, intellectual or existential engagement. From the bold manifesto-like essays to groundbreaking theoretical writings that shift paradigms, each piece is a testament to intellectual revolution and courage. These are not just writings; they are beacons of transformative thought and conceptual reinvention. This book can be treated as evidence of the intergenerational dialogue, where scholars whose work and worldview have been to a large extent shaped by the experience of the 1989 political transition, visit their predecessors whose attitudes and ideas emerged in the aftermath of World War II. This is an acknowledgement of genealogy, heritage and influence.