Pitt professor writes the book on Polish culture.
By Rex Rutkoski Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, 8:09 p.m.
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A lot of folks might think Polish culture begins and ends with kielbasa, pierogies and polka music, says veteran University of Pittsburgh professor Oscar E. Swan.
Never mind that the polka isn't even a Polish dance, emerging instead from the oom-pah music of Bohemia and Southern Germany, says the instructor of Slavic languages and literatures.
“Several of my consultants in Poland specifically begged me: ‘Please tell Americans that the polka is not Polish!'” says Swan, author of “Kaleidoscope of Poland: A Cultural Encyclopedia” (University of Pittsburgh Press, $39.95) and 14 other books.
An item about the polka is one of 900 compact text entries, serious and lighthearted, and 600 illustrations in the nearly 400-page book. It contains articles on major events, people, culturally shared knowledge and accomplishments from the more than 1,000-year-old record of Polish history and culture, along with a selection of articles on lesser-known, but (what Swan considers) equally noteworthy, Polish-related topics.
The book's aim is to get students and visitors to Poland up to speed, so that they can come across as culturally literate in a country that places a high value on it, Swan says.
“This book is full of insights into the Polish state of mind,” says British historian Adam Zamoyski, who wrote the foreword, calling it “a must” whose use is by no means confined to novices.
Pittsburgh City councilwoman Natalia Rudiak, honored as Polonian of the Year in 2014 by the Polish-American Congress of Western Pennsylvania, and whose grandfather fought for a free and open Poland, sponsored a council proclamation last month honoring Swan and his book.
“Poland is the fastest-growing economy in Europe,” Rudiak says. “Rather than be relegated to the back burner behind Germany and France, Poland and the Polish language need to be seen as mainstream as German and French.”
This volume, she says, helps bridge gaps for both the casual traveler and the cultural aficionado in a way that is concise, colorful and easy to understand.
Any attempt to improve one's general understanding and appreciation of a culture is a worthwhile endeavor, says Timothy Kuzma of Regent Square. He's the president and CEO of the Polish Falcons of America, the fraternal benefit society based in Green Tree.
“The timing is always right for something like this,” Kuzma says. “Polish history and culture is a long, often complicated, story with numerous characters and plot lines. Dr. Swan's new book provides an informative, interesting and enlightening view into many of these stories.”
Swan, 73, of Squirrel Hill is the first American selected for the Thesaurus Poloniae Award from the Center of International Culture, Krakow. He also is recipient of the Polonicum Award from the University of Warsaw for the “outstanding promulgation” of Polish language, literature and culture outside of Poland.
He's not Polish, and it surprises him that people assume he is just because he specializes in that country's language, country and culture.
“I see no inherent reason why a country like Poland should be any less interesting than France, Germany or Russia to study,” says Swan, who is Scots-Irish and first visited Poland in 1967 with his wife on a Stanford University Fellowship.
“I think that I have a Polish sense of humor, but that is about as far as my genetic or ethnic connection to the country goes. I've sort of married into a Polish family. My son married a Polish woman from Krakow and lives in Poland,” he says.
Swan believes that now is the right time to chronicle what makes Poland distinctive, before it is seen “as just one more European country.”
Poland is a Western-style democracy, a member of the European Union and NATO and exists in an increasingly homogenized and globalized world. The country is undergoing significant cultural changes as it continues to become a part of the broad world.
“One of the things that drew me to Poland in the first place was that (the) people are smart, well-read and informed, engaged in the outside world and have interesting things to say about most things and are articulate about saying it,” he says. “I think the Poles as a culture are among the most enterprising people I know.”
He says the results show in the strides the country has made after the fall of communism, including Poland's status as a manufacturing powerhouse.
“I wish that Americans would get rid of their cultural prejudices about Poles in the same way that they have largely rid themselves of their Irish, Hungarian or Italian stereotypes,” Swan says, “because they have nothing to do with reality.”
All the countries of Central Europe unfairly “get short shrift” when histories of the world or of Europe are written, he says. “I think by coming to Poland's traditions as an outsider, I can possibly offer a perspective unaffected by the standard national narrative as to what outsiders might find interesting about Poland.”
Swan has taught Polish language, literature, film and culture for more than 40 years at Pitt and says he has accumulated “a lot of passive knowledge” about these subjects that he was able to use for “Kaleidoscope of Poland.”
Swan's book is not only timely but also contains information not always known to Americans or even Poles, says Eva Tumiel-Kozak of Pittsburgh, who came to America from Poland in 1974. She was producer and commentator of about 60 programs on the history of Polish music on WQED and WDUQ, many broadcast nationally on National Public Radio.
“Some time ago, (Swan) initiated the Endowment for the Polish Program in order to continue the program for Polish studies even when he retires,” she says. “Perhaps his book will attract more students and donors to this worthwhile cause. I always believed that Polish culture had a big influence on the cultural life not only in Pittsburgh but in America.”
Poles have been part and parcel of the American fabric since Jamestown Colony, says New Kensington native Rick Pierchalski, president of the Pittsburgh Polish Cultural Council. “They have contributed to virtually every sphere of American life from theater, music, industry, politics, academia, sports and the arts. Their industry, thrift and persistence in whatever they endeavor to do is what I consider to be traits of the Polish people.”
Teacher and author Mary Louise Ellena of Richland, vice president of the Pittsburgh chapter and active in the national headquarters of the Kosciuszko Foundation, which promotes educational and cultural exchanges between the United States and Poland, finds Swan's book the definitive text “for anyone with Polish blood coursing through their veins or for anyone with an interest in things Polish.”
When we keep traditions alive, we keep the spirit of people who passed them on to us alive, says Larry Kozlowski of Monroeville, chairman of the Polish Nationality Room at Oakland's Cathedral of Learning and cultural commissioner for the Polish Falcons Heritage Foundation. He also is founder of Polishfest at Pitt and the author of five books.
We all want a sense of where we are, where we came from and where we are going, Kozlowski says, and honoring the customs of our heritage accomplishes that. Kozlowski used Swan's textbook when he was a student at Alliance College and praises Swan's new work as an excellent resource.
“He's already distilled the important points, so it is very easy reading and informative,” he says.
Swan says he hopes “people are infected by my interest in Poland and will want to keep learning more about the subject, while realizing that there is much more to this country, its history and its culture than can possibly be alluded to in a book or known by a single person.
“I hope readers will find a few topics they would like to follow up on somewhere else in depth.”
Rex Rutkoski is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
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