Happy Polish American Heritage Month! Join us in celebrating the month once again with a reading list of articles from The Polish Review and Polish American Studies.
The Polish Review
The Polish Review, a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed scholarly quarterly devoted to Polish topics, is the official journal of The Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America. Launched in 1956, The Polish Review has established itself as one of the most distinguished journals in the various fields of Polish studies, a publication that encourages lively scholarly exchange and cutting-edge innovation. The Review publishes research articles on Polish history, literature, art, architecture, sociology, political science, and other related topics, along with review essays, book reviews, and annotated translations of documents and literary works.
Read more about two articles from recent issues in The Polish Review’s current volume year:
“Educating the Younger Generation of Polish Female Refugees in Postwar Britain: Secondary Grammar Schools for Girls—the Challenges of Resettlement” by Agata Blaszczyk (Vol. 69, Iss. 1, a special issue on “Gender and Nation”)
This study explores the education of young Polish female refugees in postwar Britain, and the implications of the establishment of the Committee for the Education of Poles, a body brought into being on April 1, 1947, as a consequence of the passage of the Polish Resettlement Bill in March 1947. It examines the newly introduced grammar schools for girls, the challenges raised for these new educational establishments, and the strategies introduced by the British authorities in order to cope with the growing numbers of Polish adolescents entering the country after World War II.
“Becoming German, Becoming Polish: The Diverging Paths of the Mennonite Communities of Former Russian and Austrian Poland in the Second Polish Republic” by Mark Jantzen (Vol. 69, Iss. 3)
The small Mennonite German-speaking communities in the Russian and Austrian partitions developed in opposite directions during the interwar period. Examining these two little known groups provides additional illustrations of the complex situations of religious and linguistic minorities in the Second Polish Republic and the divergent ways they approached the challenges. This case study shows how what appeared to be similar starting places for minorities could lead initially to two different outcomes.
Polish American Studies
Polish American Studies is the Polish American Historical Association’s interdisciplinary, double-blind refereed scholars journal. The editor welcomes scholarship including articles, edited documents, and related materials with all aspects of the history and culture of Poles in the Western Hemisphere. Particularly welcome are contributions that provide perspective as part of the larger Polish Diaspora, and examine its relationship to other ethnic groups.
Check out more about two articles from the most recent issues of Polish American Studies below:
“The Food Voice Emerges in an Ethnography of Polish Americans” by Annie Hauck (Vol. 81, Iss. 1, a special issue on “Polish American Foodways”)
Food is, arguably, an anchoring aspect of group identity for Polish Americans, with certain foods like kielbasa and pierogi “speaking” Polish in the United States. This paper utilizes the food voice, a term that Hauck originated during a qualitative study conducted in the late 1980s and early 1990s with Polish American families. During ethnographic fieldwork, she saw how foodways serve as channels of communication and avenues for expressions of individuals’ identities for these families.
“From Kalisz to Toronto: Eve Zaremba’s Feminist Journey” by Grazyna J. Kozaczka (Vol. 81, Iss. 2)
Eve Zaremba (born 1930), a Polish Canadian feminist writer and activist, business owner, and marketing executive, has earned a place in the history of Canadian women’s struggle for equality. Through her involvement in the founding and publishing of the feminist newspaper Broadside: A Feminist Review (1979–1989), she was able to bring readers’ attention to many social issues, and by writing a series of detective stories featuring a lesbian detective, she earned the distinction of creating the first openly lesbian PI in the detective genre.
Find Out More
- Want to access more Polish Studies articles?
- Individual Subscriptions to The Polish Review can be made through the PIASA website here.
- Individual Subscriptions to Polish American Studies can be made through the University of Illinois Press website here.
- To recommend either of these titles to your library, fill out this Library Request Form.
- Ready to see your work published?
- Check out our other European Studies journals: Italian Americana, Italian American Review, Italica, Diasporic Italy, and Journal of Finnish Studies
- Check out last year’s Polish American Heritage Month blog post
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