“The Habsburg Lands in the Contemporary Polish Imagination”

Presented by Dr Richard Millington (German)

Zoom link: https://vuw.zoom.us/j/2160873503

The Habsburgs came up with the grand-sounding name “Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria” for the territory they annexed during the Partitions of Poland in the late 18^th century and which remained under Austrian rule until the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the First World War. Although the word Galicja no longer appears on any official maps of Poland, and the town from whose name it was derived, Halych, lies in modern Ukraine, the historical toponym is still commonly used in Poland today. As well as referring to the country’s south-eastern borderlands, it is loaded with other, mostly positive connotations tinged with nostalgia and exoticism. The ideas it evokes include closeness to nature, rustic simplicity, ornate wooden churches, highland shepherds with their distinctive language and customs, as well as possibilities of peaceful co-existence of different ethnic and religious groups. In this talk I will explore the continued currency of the Galician idea in modern Poland from a wide-angled view – departing from architecture, deviating through cinema, landing in literature.

Dr Richard Millington has spent many years studying the literature of the German-speaking world. With this new project he is attempting to reinvigorate his Slavist roots.

ALL WELCOME | Seminar Convenor Prof. Yiyan Wang (yiyan.wang@vuw.ac.nz)