WEMSK35c:Old West Slavic Literatures
WEMSK35c - West Slavic Literatures
[For medieval purposes, West
Slavic literatures are Czech, Slovak,
and Polish. It was perhaps
a bad decision to use the linguistic
division, since it is not a
cultural one. Culturally, we should
include Slovenian (the first
document in Slovenian is in Latin
letters) and perhaps Croatia
(use of Latin alphabet), since these
are under Western influence
to a great extent, as are Czech and
Polish.]
General
Don't forget to look in more general works, e.g:
1. Grundriss der romanischen
Literaturen des Mittelalters, ed. Hans
Robert Jauss and Erich Koehler,
vol. 1, VIII "Die romanisch-
slavischen Literaturbeziehungen
im Mittelalter (Heidelberg: Winter,
1972), 408-466. Good on
Czech and Polish. Good bibliography, 680-
683.
2. Deutsche Philologie im Aufriss,
2d ed., vol 3 ed. Wolfgang
Stammler (Berlin: Erich Schmidt,
1962). "Tschechisch-deutsche
Literaturbeziehungen," 503-524;
"Polnische Literatur in
Deutschland," 525-550.
Czechoslovakian
1. Bibliography:
a. George J. Kovtun, Czech and
Slovak Literature in English: A
Bibliography, 2d ed. (Washington,
DC: LOC, 1988). Update to
Lewanski.
2. Chrestomathies:
a. Heinrich Kunstmann, Denkmaeler
der alttschechischen Literatur
von ihren Anfaengen bis zur
Hussitenbewegung. (Berlin: VEB
Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften,
1955). Texts + short
commentary with bibliography.
b. Vybor z ceske literatury od
pocatku po dobu husovu [Selection of
Czech Literature from the Beginnings
to the Time of Hus] (Prague:
Academy of Sciences, 1957).
c. Vybor z ceske literatury doby
husitske [Selection of Czech
Literature at the Time of Hus],
2 vols. (Prague: Academy of
Sciences, 1963-64]. With b and
c you have a fair survey of Old
Czech literature.
d. An Anthology of Church Slavonic
Texts of Western (Czech) Origin:
with an outline of Czech-church
Slavonic language and literature
and with a selected bibliography,
by Francis Wenceslas Mares.
Slavische Propylaen 127 (Munich:
Fink, 1979). A strange book; it
belongs rather under the rubric
of Old Church Slavic than here.
3. Surveys:
a. A short survey with some texts
and commentary: Stuart E. Mann,
Czech Historical Grammar (London:
Athlone Press, 1957).
b. Josef Hrabak, Starsi ceska
literatura. Uvod do studia [Old Czech
Literature. Introduction to
its Study] (Prague: 1964).
4. Histories of Literature:
a. Walter Schamschula, Geschichte
der tschechischen Literatur.
Bausteine zur Geschichte der
Literatur bei den Slaven 36, vol. 1,
Von den Anfaengen bis zur Aufklaerungszeit
(Cologne: Boehlau,
1990-)
b. Winfried Baumann, Die Literatur
des Mittelalters in Boehmen:
deutsch-lateinisch-tschechische
Literatur vom 10. bis zum 15.
Jahrhundert. Veroeffentlichungen
des Collegium Carolinum 37
(Munich: Oldenbourg, 1978).
With good bibliographies; this should
perhaps be your first port of
call.
c. Thin, but frequently cited:
Arne Novak, Czech literature, tr.
Peter Kussi, edited with a suppl.
by William E. Harkins. The Joint
Committee on Eastern Europe
Publication Series 4 (Ann Arbor:
Michigan Slavic Publications,
1976. Translation of his Strucni
dejiny literatury ceski with
a "Supplement: 1945-1974," 333-355.
d. A good general history, not
very full of the medieval period: H.
Jelinek, Histoire de la litterature
tcheque (Paris, 1930-35).
5. Comparative:
a. A large and important item:
Reinhold Trautmann, Die
alttschechische Alexandreis,
mit Einleitung und Glossen
(Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1916).
b. For works on the Tkadlecek,
the Old Czech version of the
Ackermann aus Boehmen, see the
Verfasserlexikon, "Johannes von
Tepl"
Polish
1. Bibliographies and guides:
a. Francoise de Bonnieres, Guide
de l'etudiant en Polonais (Paris:
Institut d'Etudes Slaves, 1980).
Good coverage, but not trustworthy
on details. Cites most authors
by first initial, e. g. "Kot, S."
Not really a guide; just a bibliography.
b. August Gerald Kanka, Poland:
An Annotated Bibliography of Books
in English. Garland Reference
Library of the Humanities 743 (NY:
Garland, 1988). 1585 books under
140 subject headings.
c. For thorough work, for those
who know Polish, the "Korbut" is
the place to go: Gabrjel Korbut,
Literatura polska ..., 2d ed., 4
vols. (Warsaw: Sklad Glowny
w Kasie Im. Mianowskiego, 1929-31).
This is brought sort of up-to-date
by the Nowy Korbut: Bibliografia
litertury Polskiej, ed. Kazimiers
Budzyk (Warsaw: Panstwowy
Instytut Wydawniczy (1963-).
The first three vols. concern us
most: Roman Pollak, Pismiennictwo
staropolskie, 3 vols.
Bibliografija literatury polskiej
Nowy Korbut 1-3 (Warsaw:
Panstwowy Instytut Wydawniczy,
1963-65).
d. For really thorough work:
Jan Los, Poczatki pismiennictwa
polskiego [microform]: przeglad
zabytksw jezykowych, 2d ed. (Lwow:
Wydawn. Zakladu Narodowego im.
Ossolinskich, 1922). Microfiche ed.
by Inter Documentation Center,
Zug, Switzerland, 1982, 10 fiches.
OCLC ID No.: 09627309
e. Marion M. Coleman, Polish
Literature in English Translation: A
Bibliography (Cheshire, CT:
Cherry Hill Books, 1963). There is a
useful Italian translation of
some Old Polish pieces in: Teatro
religioso del medioevo fuori
d'Italia, ed. Gianfranco Contini
(Florence: Bompiani, 1949),
515-532.
2. Chrestomathies:
a. Wladyslaw Nehring, Altpolnische
Sprachdenkmaeler. Systematische
Uebersicht, Wuerdigung, und
Texte (Berlin: Weidmann, 1886). A good,
readable survey of the corpus
known at the time.
b. Wieslaw Wydra and Wojciech
Ryszard Rzepka, Chrestomatia
Staropolska. Teksty do roku
1543 (Wroclaw: Ossolineum, 1984). This
ought to be your first port
of call. It functions almost as a list
of the corpus. Copious facsimiles,
bibliography with each item.
Glossary.
c. Stefan Vrtel-Wierczynski,
Wybor tekstow staropolskich. Czasy
najdawniejsze fo roku 1543,
4th ed (Warsaw: Panstwowe Wydawnictwo
Naukowe, 1969). Not totally
replaced by a. Good facsimiles,
bibliography (sometimes fuller
than a), glossary.
d. Monumenta Polonica. The First
Four Centuries of Polish Poetry,
ed. Bogdana Carpenter. Michigan
Slavic Materials, No. 31 (Ann
Arbor: Michigan Slavic Publications,
1989). Sparse. Only the first
77 pages are Old Polish. Don't
trust the bibliography.
3. Aids:
a. If you are beginning to learn
Old Polish, a good guide is: Paul
Diels, Die altpolnischen Predigten
aus Heiligenkreuz. Mit
Einleitung, Uebersetzung und
Wortverzeichnis (Berlin: Weidmann,
1921). Also the Florjan Psalter
is good to start out with, since
everybody knows the Psalter
(or can look in the Vulgate, aided by
Douay); Vrtel-Wierczynski, 15
ff.; or the Pulaski (great name!)
Psalter, 52 ff. If you are learning
Polish, A. Schenker, Beginning
Polish, rev. ed., 2 vols (Yale
UP, 1973) is highly praised (e.g. by
Bonnieres). I am getting
off the subject, but I have found an old
standby good: Joseph A. Teslar,
A New Polish Grammar, 6th ed.
(Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd,
1953). There will be a WEMSK on the Old
Polish language.
b. Zygmunt Gloger, ed., Encyklopedia
staropolska ilustrowana, 4
vols. (Warsaw: Laskauer and
Babicki, 1900-1903). Not scholarly, but
a good place to look up an unfamiliar
term. Its section on the
Bogorodzica has the music.
c. Polish Encyclopedia, vol.
1. Publications of the Polish National
Committee of America (Geneva:
ATAR, 1926; repr. NY: Arno Press &
The New York Times, 1972).
Its section (ca. 45 pp.) on Old Polish
literature is sparse, but a
good quick read.
4. Latin:
a. Marya Kasterska, Les po tes
latins-polonais jusqu'… 1582 (Paris:
A. Rousseau, n. d.). Bibliographie,
188-195.
b. Alexander Brueckner, Sredniowieczna
poezya lacinska (Cracow,
1892).
5. Comparative; the Polish contribution to the Walther story:
a. Waltharius und Walthersage,
ed. Emil Ernst Ploss (Hildesheim:
Georg Olms, 1969). Collection
of articles plus a bibliography.
b. Francis P. Magoun, Jr. and
Hamilton M. Smyser, Walter of
Aquitaine. Materials for the
Study of his Legend. Connecticut Coll.
Monographs 4 (New London, Conn.:
Connecticut College, 1950). Cf.
also their translation in Conn.
Coll. Monogr. 1, 1941.
c. Felix Liebrecht, "Zur slavischen
Walthariussage," Germania 11
(1866), 172 f.
d. Richard Heinzel, Ueber die
Walthersage (Wiener Sitzungsberichte
117, No. 2, 1889). Contains
an edition of the Latin and the Polish,
plus a translation.
e. Gerard Labuda, Zrodla, sagi
i legendy do najdawniejszych Dziegow
Polski (Warsaw, 1960. pp. 243-295:
"Powiesc o Walgierzu z Tynca i
o Wislawie z Wislicy" (with
a French summary, 307 f.).
Internet Resources
STAROPOLSKA
ON-LINE (OLD POLISH LITERATURE)
A great resource created and maintained by Roman
Mazurkiewicz and Mariusz Gorniak. The main page is in Polish but English
translations are avaible (click on the UK flag) -- German and Swedish version
seem to be in the making as well.