An Embodied Excursus on Polish Vampirism
Film · 2015 · transformation · vampires
An Embodied Excursus on Polish Vampirism Freely inspired by Professor Maria Janion
The “vampire experience” has always been part of Polish history, particularly during the Partitions of Poland and the Romantic era. The vampire is perhaps the ultimate articulation of the Polish fate — its damnation, its inner division, its sense of being torn apart. Many Polish poets, especially the Romantics, were fascinated by ghosts and the undead, among them the great national poet Adam Mickiewicz.
Why do Poles love zombies and vampires? The renowned scholar of Romanticism, Professor Maria Janion, explores this question in her books. Her collection of essays The Poles and Their Vampires, published in the “Thinking and Knowledge” series by the German Poland Institute in Darmstadt, appeared in German translation a year ago. The original Polish edition, Wampir. Biografia symboliczna (Vampire: A Symbolic Biography), was published in Poland in 2002.
In the book, Janion examines the vampire myth from a multitude of perspectives — anthropological, historical, folkloric, literary, cinematic, psychological, and psychoanalytic. She traces the evolution of the myth from Goethe and Mickiewicz to the present day, asking why the vampire has become one of the most powerful motifs in popular culture — particularly in Poland.
We follow in her footsteps, with a wink.
Kowalski & Schmidt, Sendung am 01.11.2015, Redaktion Aschot Amirdschanjan
- By
- Aneta Panek
- With
- Krista Figacz & Bela Mordel
- Cinematography
- Jürgen Meissl
- Graphic
- Karoline Rilat
- Editing
- Hanka Knipper
Film