Festivals of Jewish Culture in Poland: A place of dialogue or of a confrontation? EFRP workshop UAM Poznan April 2010 mgr Marcela Kościańczuk Cultural Studies, UAM Poznań

2 Two kinds of Jewish Culture Festivals Big Festivals Foreign audience and Festivals artists Kraków, Warszawa, Poznań (big cities) Music, dances, films, A modern face of Jewish culture Small Jewish days Local artists, local audience Szydłów, Kętrzyn, Pińczów (small towns) Music, dances, films, exhibitions concerning a specific area Traditional face of the Jewish culture

3 Organizators ideas I 1.Coming back to the roots ( Kazimierz) (walking strategies- Michael de Certeau) 2. Place where Jewish and Polish tradition meet (In betweeness- Hommi Bhabha) 3. A sign of Jewish absence (Celebration of life at a place of extermination) (Emmanuel Levinas, the Face of the Other)

4 Organizators ideas II Invocation of the local history and culture Cultural event, integration Appreciation of the local art Intercultural dialogue in our surroundings Lack of Jewish aspects in the contemporary Polish culture

5 Areas of dialogue Music and dance, not as a show but as a community experience Education: learning the basics of the Hebrew alphabet, elements of the Jewish tradition - which suposedly wont be so strange any longer A place of family meetings - of Jewish but also of Polish families

6 Problems Mainly visible in smaller rather than bigger festivals Connected with apparent character of small communities? Some fear, intolerance, conviction that Polish people should mainly get to know their own tradition and culture, a belief that the idea of Jewish days is based on some particular interests.

Confrontations Jewish Culture Festivals point out problems and make people responsible for them. It is a place where we (Polish people) are confronted with a mixed and difficult tradition (interbellum, World War 2, 1968) It is source of defensive behaviour and place where people show off their disappointment, stereotypes and fears

8 O jak mi ł o, to ju ż milionowy akt filosemityzmu w Polsce w przeci ą gu ostatniego kwarta ł u. Kochamy Was nasi ż ydowscy koledzy. Ś mia ł o, ś mia ł o, zapraszamy do Polski, wszak czeka na Was maj ą tek. *** trudno si ę dziwi ć, ż e ludzie tak reaguj ą. Zdajesz sobie spraw ę z tego, ż e diaspora ż ydowska by ł a przeciwna powstaniu Polski po 1918! Proponuj ę zapoznanie si ę z histori ą Polski, pozwoli ci to zrozumie ć wiele rzeczy. Zreszt ą, aktualne wydarzenie s ą najlepszym przyk ł adem "kultury" ż ydowskiej. Moim zdaniem LO najpierw powinno uczy ć patriotyzmu, a pó ź niej podejmowa ć prób ę poznawania kultur innych pa ń stw. Jak zwykle zaczyna si ę od pupy strony. [/quote Calkowicie sie z Panem / Pania zgadzam. Niedawno obchodzilismy Miesiac "Kultury" Zydowskiej w Gazie i wierzyc sie nie chce, ze "postepowa" mlodziez z LO w Kazimierzy Wielkiej zdobyla sie na podobny idiotyzm. Coz, chyba wplywy Koszer Nostry docieraja juz nawet na propagandowo urabiana prowincje... ~kie~ , 07:13:28 Wpis #6 Go ś cie#6 *** Ja,ze wstr ę tem donosz ę, ż e nie kocham kultury ż ydowskiej w aspekcie kulinarnym i tanecznym ! Zw ł aszcza niewdzi ę cznym kochankiem jestem bankierów i polityków co przy ł o ż yli r ę k ę do pieni ę dzy podatników i ż by ich wyratowa ć z opresji zwanej kryzysem. Swinia jestem niekoszerna i tyle...o ile s ą koszerne ś winie!? Nie to co Pa ń stwo Litwiniukowie(za przeproszeniem)

9 Conclusions Jewish culture festivals are rarely a place of Polish-Jewish dialogue but rather a place of dialogue inside each cultural group Jewish culture festivals (especially in smaller places) point out problems connected with our identity and the identity of others A place of confrontations and polemics is also a place of dialogue