Universität Wien

240543 SE Predicament of Memory: Through Documentary Film and Ethnography (Polish Cases) (P4) (2022S)

Continuous assessment of course work
ON-SITE

Participation at first session is obligatory!

The lecturer can invite students to a grade-relevant discussion about partial achievements. Partial achievements that are obtained by fraud or plagiarized result in the non-evaluation of the course (entry 'X' in certificate). The plagiarism software 'Turnitin' will be used for courses with continuous assessment.

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 20 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

If possible, the course is to be conducted in presence. Due to the respective applicable distance regulations and other measures, adjustments may be made.

  • Monday 02.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Friday 06.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Monday 09.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Friday 13.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Monday 16.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum D, NIG 4. Stock
  • Friday 20.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Monday 23.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Friday 27.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum D, NIG 4. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The course will tackle several contemporary anthropological problems through the lens of the concept of – social and cultural - memory. We will discuss the problems using two kinds of material: ethnographies and documentary films. In placing these two kinds of material in dialogue, we will get a more nuanced picture. The problems we will tackle include: Polish Jews and Polish Memory; Remembering Socialism and Post-socialism; The Role of Catholicism in Polish Memory; Minorities and Pluralization of Memory; Abuses of Anthropology. We will read ethnographic papers written by eminent anthropologists but also young scholars that are results of their research in Poland. We will watch several works of the famous Polish School of Documentary Films, and other interesting images.
During the course, students will read ethnographic papers and watch documentary films tackling similar problems, then they will discuss in groups on assigned topics, and finally participate in a general discussion that tackles these problems in a broader perspective.
Problems to be discussed include:
• Comparison between ethnography and film in approaching memory issues.
• How cultural memory is present in documentary film? and how - in ethnography?
• How can ethnography and film be critically engaged with each other?

Assessment and permitted materials

The course participants will be asked to prepare a group presentation. Active participation in the whole course will be also assessed.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Attendance in all units is mandatory.
Group presentations (60%) and active attendance (40%).
Both the proactive attendance in each unit and the group presentation have to be fulfilled in a satisfactory way to pass the course.
Grades:
• 91-100 points - 1 (excellent)
• 81-90 points - 2 (good)
• 71-80 points - 3 (satisfactory)
• 61-70 points - 4 (sufficient)

Examination topics

The topics of group presentations have to be agreed on with the lecturer.

Reading list

I. Polish Jews and Polish Memory.

1. Studying Polish Jews before the Holocaust.
• A documentary film: "Po-lin. Okruchy pamięci" [Po-lin. Slivers of memory], Jolanta Dylewska, 2009.
• G. Kubica, The Ghetto of Kazimierz: Feliks Gross and his unfinished fieldwork of the Jewish quarter of Krakow, 1938-39, "East European Politics and Societies and Cultures" 2014.

2. Rediscovering Traces of Memory.
• A documentary film: "Extras", Paweł Sala, 2002; recorded on the film set of "The Pianist" by Roman Polanski.
• S. Kapralski, D. Niedźwiedzki, J. Nowak, Reflexive ethnography of Poland’s non-memory about Jews and the Holocaust: Revisiting fieldwork, revising assumptions, "Memory Studies" 2021, 1-14.
• additionally: A.K. Paluch, Konzentrationslager Auschwitz: The View from Outside, in: The Jews in Poland, ed. by A.K. Paluch, Cracow 1992.

II. Remembering Socialism and Post-socialism.

3. A model socialistic city - Nowa Huta.
• A documentary film: "Destination Nowa Huta", Andrzej Munk, 1951.
• Kinga Pozniak, Generations of Memory in the "model socialist town" of Nowa Huta, Poland, "Focaal" 2013, issue 66.

4. The uniqueness of "Solidarity" movement.
• A documentary film: "Solidarity According to Women", Marta Dzido, P. Śliwowski, 2014.
• Jan Kubik, The Power of Symbols against the Symbols of Power. The Rise of Solidarity and the Fall of State Socialism in Poland, Pennsylvania State Univ. Press 1994 (fragments).
• additionally: Jan Kubik, Solidarity, International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, ed. Immanuel Ness, Blackwell Publishing, 2009, pp. 3072–3080.

5. Women in Socialism and Postsocialism
• A documentary film: "Workwomen", Irena Kamieńska, 1981.
• Frances Pine, Retreat to the Household? Gendered Domains in Postsocialist Poland, in: Postsocialism: Ideas, Ideologists, and Practices in Eurasia, ed. Chris Hann, Routledge 2002.

III. 6. The role of Catholicism in Polish memory:

• A documentary film "Pamiątka z Kalwarii" [A Souvenir from Kalwaria], Jerzy Hoffman, 1958.
https://vimeo.com/118587516
• Anna Niedźwiedź, Competing Sacred Places: Making and Remaking of National Shrines in Contemporary Poland, in: Pilgrimage, Politics and Place-Making in Estern Europe. Crossing the Borders, ed. J. Eade, M. Katic, Ashgate 2014.

IV. Minorities and pluralisation of memory:

7. Gay and lesbian movement:
• A documentary film: "Tolerancja", Diana Voxebrant, 2004.
• Grażyna Kubica, A Rainbow flag against the Cracow Dragon. Polish Responses to the Gay and Lesbian Movement, in: L. Kurti, P. Skalnik (ed.), Postsocialist Europe. Anthropological Perspectives from Home, New York-Oxford 2009.

V. 8. Abuses of anthropology:

• A documentary film: "Archiwum istnień" [The human files], Justyna Łuczaj Salej, TVP SA, 2009. https://vimeo.com/253365634
• Stanisława Trebunia-Staszel, "Evoked from Memory". The War and the German Racial Research in the Accounts of the Podhale Inhabitants, in: Anthropology and Ethnology During World War II. The Activity of Sektion Rassen- und Volkstumsforschung Institut fur Deutsche Ostarbeit in the Light of New Source Materials, ed. M. Maj, M. Brocki, S. Trebunia-Staszel, Jagiellonian Univ. Press, Krakow 2019, p. 225-247.

All films are with German or English subtitles.
All papers will be available in electronic versions.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Tu 26.04.2022 11:50