Dead and Undead in Polish Culture

Undergraduate / Graduate

What makes Polish culture distinctive? How do ideas about death, ghosts, and the undead help express Polish identity? This course explores these questions by examining how Polish writers have used supernatural and symbolic figures to respond to historical change, political struggle, and cultural memory. Through readings from different periods-beginning with Romanticism and continuing to contemporary literature-students will discover how Polish culture has been shaped by shifting borders, occupations, and social transformations. The course focuses on how the motif of the dead and undead appears in different genres, including poetry, short stories, fantasy, and magical realism. Works by authors such as Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki, Bruno Schulz, Stefan Grabiński, Andrzej Sapkowski, and Olga Tokarczuk show how these themes help create imaginative worlds that reflect both Polish experience and universal human concerns. Class activities include guided discussions, selected film screenings, and explorations of folklore and popular culture, allowing students to connect literary themes to visual media and contemporary cultural expressions. All required readings are available in English translation; students fluent in Polish are welcome to read selected texts in the original language. No prior knowledge of Polish language or culture is required.