90 let pražské polonistiky – dějiny a současnost

The presented publication 90 Years of Polish Studies in Prague: History and the Present Day, is being published to commemorate 90 years since the foundation of Polish studies in Prague, which fall on 2013, outlining the development of Polish studies since 1923, its institutional outset, through the present. The first section, focusing on history and divided into three chapters, outline the history of the Polish studies in Prague, based on available sources, particularly archival, earlier publications as well as information from living graduates of Polish studies. The first chapter, covering the beginnings of the "department of Polish language and literature" between 1923–1939, focused primarily on the circumstances which enabled the foundation of the Polish studies and on work of the main pre-war figure of Polish studies in Prague, Marian Syzjkowski. The second chapter analyzes the broad period of 1945–1989, during which the Polish studies had to face the challenges and consequences of the totalitarian regime, communist ideology and Marxist methodology. The third chapter outlines the most recent development, since 1989, when the Polish studies was forced to deal with other significant changes, associated with new views of Slavic studies and a turn from studies focusing on philology to area studies. Particularly this period of the past twenty years of the existence of the Polish studies in Prague had not been well documented.
The second section comprises of profiles of the most prominent figures who shaped the discipline (Marian Szyjkowski, Iza Šaunová, Karel Krejčí, Theodor Bešta, Otakar Bartoš, Luboš Řeháček, Jan Petr) as well as of interviews of representatives of the first post-war generation of the Polish studies’ graduates. The book is completed with other material and selected bibliography on the theme.