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Polacy i Egipt na przestrzeni wieków. Tom VII - ebook
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Polacy i Egipt na przestrzeni wieków. Tom VII - ebook
Przedstawiamy siódmy tom z serii wydawniczej Transfer kultury arabskiej w dziejach Polski. Seria ta prezentuje wyniki prac zespołu naukowców różnych dyscyplin, realizującego w ramach Narodowego Programu Rozwoju Humanistyki projekt badawczy pt. Transfer kulturowy jako transdyscyplinarny element nauki o stosunkach międzykulturowych na przykładzie wpływów kultury arabskiej w dziedzictwie kulturowym Polski (projekt nr 2bH 15 0156 83 na lata 2016–2019).
Transfer kulturowy możliwy jest dzięki bezpośrednim kontaktom międzykulturowym – a tym sprzyjają podróże. Monografia autorstwa Hieronima Kaczmarka zatytułowana Polacy i Egipt na przestrzeni wieków. Zapiski, dzienniki, wspomnienia z podróży prezentuje relacje polsko-arabskie w kontekście wyjazdów Polaków do jednego z najważniejszych krajów arabskich – Egiptu, stąd też została włączona do serii wydawniczej w/w projektu. W efekcie realizacji tegoż projektu jest jednak wzbogacona i poszerzona w porównaniu z pierwszym wydaniem, które ukazało się w 2008 roku w Wydawnictwie Naukowym Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego pod tytułem Polacy w Egipcie do 1914 roku. Książka niniejsza to rezultat badań nad podróżami Polaków na tereny dzisiejszego Egiptu, które zaczęły się już w XV/XVI wieku, a zwłaszcza nad motywami tych wyjazdów, stosunkiem polskich podróżników do miejscowych realiów społecznych, kulturalnych i politycznych, szczególnie do elementów kultury materialnej odwiedzanego kraju.
Powody i motywy podróży Polaków do Egiptu były różnorodne i mają długą historię. Egipt w ogóle jest krajem szczególnym dla Polaków i Polski. Spośród wszystkich dwudziestu dwóch państw arabskich właśnie z Egiptem Polska najwcześniej nawiązała stosunki dyplomatyczne (sięgają one 1927 roku), w kraju tym zamieszkuje najliczniejsza Polonia, a egipskie kurorty należą do najczęściej odwiedzanych przez polskich turystów. Dlatego warto zapoznać się z opisaną przez Hieronima Kaczmarka w niniejszej monografii historią wyjazdów Polaków do Egiptu, ze śladami, jakie jego krajobrazy, budowle i ludzie pozostawili w polskiej literaturze pamiętnikarskiej, zapiskach czy notatkach podróżników.
Pozwoli to z jednej strony na refleksję nad współczesnymi stereotypami i uprzedzeniami, wciąż obecnymi w odbiorze Egiptu i jego mieszkańców, a także na porównanie, co się zmieniło, a co pozostaje stałe w relacjach polsko-egipskich, czy szerzej – polsko-arabskich.
Ze Wstępu redaktorów naukowych serii
| Kategoria: | Popularnonaukowe |
| Zabezpieczenie: |
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| ISBN: | 978-83-8002-876-0 |
| Rozmiar pliku: | 2,6 MB |
FRAGMENT KSIĄŻKI
This is the seventh volume from the Transfer of Arabic Culture in the Polish History series. The series presents the results of work by a team of researchers from various disciplines, performed as a part of the research programme under the National Humanities Development Programme: Cultural transfer as a transdisciplinary element of intercultural relations as exemplified by the impact of the Arabic culture on the cultural heritage of Poland (Project No. 2bH 15 0156 83 for the years 2016–2019).
The researchers focused on various elements and fields in which the Arabic culture somehow interacted with the Polish culture: from early mediaeval archaeological finds, manuscripts by early Arab travellers, to direct travels by Poles and the memoirs they left, their participation in diplomatic relations with the Arab world, and finally to science, literature, and arts. The project also included studying the role of intermediaries of other ethnic origins in the transfer of the Arabic culture into the Polish culture. The researchers also paid attention to the spiritual sphere, including philosophy, even religion, as well as language and linguistic issues. As one may see, the range of interactions between the Polish and Arabic cultures has been extensive, multidimensional, and multifaceted.
Direct intercultural contact facilitates cultural transfer. Thus, the series includes the monograph by Hieronim Kaczmarek entitled Poles and Egypt throughout the centuries. Writings, journals and travel memoirs, which presents the Polish-Arab relations in the context of the Poles’ travels to one of the most important Arabic countries, Egypt. As a result of the project, the monograph has been revised and supplemented (in comparison to the first edition from 2008, entitled Poles in Egypt before 1914).
Poles and Egypt throughout the centuries... is the result of research into journeys of the Polish travellers to the territory of contemporary Egypt, which started in the 15^(th) and 16^(th) century. The studies focused on the motives for such travels, the attitude of Polish travellers towards the local social, cultural, and political reality, and – especially – towards the elements of the material culture of the visited country.
Memoirs were the primary source of information about the Poles travelling to the Middle East. However, in his analysis, Hieronim Kaczmarek also used several mentions of them thus far scattered in the Polish and foreign archives, as well as generally available publications.
First, the Author familiarises the readers with the basic facts related to the travels: their reasons, goals, cost calculation, as well as the route selection (land – gruelling and lengthy, sea – shorter), using the Polish-Arab relations through the centuries as the background. From the very beginning, the main reason to travel to the Middle East was religious. Thus, the country or territory of Egypt was secondary and, for many years, overshadowed by the pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Missionaries were another group of religiously-motivated visitors from Poland; their stay in Egypt was connected to the increasing number of Europeans in the country, including the Poles (traders and diplomats); it seldom had to do with the local Christians.
Only in the 19^(th) century did Egypt come into fashion; not rooted in religion, but rather in interest in another culture and civilisation. It was the time of the first tourist and scientific expeditions, usually connected to the natural sciences, less often – linguistics and archaeology (the number of the latter was systematically increasing since the late 19^(th) century). Diplomatic stays were becoming more numerous, but not many diplomats in Egypt were Polish. Still, they did make a significant impact on, e.g., the development of the Polish Egyptology.
Tourist expeditions were undoubtedly inspired by the admiration of the Orient, known from books and school; the Poles wanted to see the places and monuments described by others, and sometimes bring a “souvenir” from the trip. The main places to visit were Alexandria, Cairo, and the Pyramids of Giza, as well as the sites on the upper Nile. The Poles liked to describe their participation in archaeological digs, confirming their interest in the remains of ancient Egypt.
Regarding employment, the oldest group of people of Polish descent working in Egypt were prisoners from the Tatar-Polish/Turk-Polish wars, purchased at the slave markets of Kaffa or other cities along the northern coast of the Black Sea, and (later) in Istanbul. The voluntary work migrations of Poles to Egypt started as late as in the 1820s, and the variety of professions was awe-inspiring: there were doctors, military men, engineers, musicians, merchants, artisans, breeders and traders of the Arab horses, along with representatives of other professions (such as architects or officials).
In Egypt, the Polish travellers also participated in cultural and entertainment events, went to the theatre or opera, spent time walking or visiting. In their me-moirs, they also mention local forms of entertainment such as celebrations, Ramadan fasting, the dance of the dervishes, Arabic weddings or crocodile hunting.
However, the picture of Egypt – including descriptions of its cities, inhabitants, and their customs – found in the written sources left by the Poles is mostly simplified and shallow. The travellers criticised the phenomena without showing deep reflection over their causes or drawing comparisons to similar situations in Poland. Most memoirs exhibit the typical Eurocentrism, that is the belief in the superiority of Europeans over non-European peoples who would not have had any development possibilities, were it not for help from Europe.
As one may see, there were various reasons and motives behind the Poles’ travels to Egypt, and the journeys have had a long history. Egypt, in particular, has been a unique country to the Poles and Poland. Amongst all the twenty-two Arabic countries, Poland had diplomatic relations with Egypt first (reaching back to 1927), the Polish tourists most often visit the Egyptian resorts, and the most significant Polish diaspora resides in Egypt. Thus, the story of Polish travels to Egypt contained in this monograph by Hieronim Kaczmarek, and of the traces of Egypt’s landscapes, buildings, and residents in the Polish memoirs, notes and diaries, is well worth reading. As a result, the reader will be able to reflect on the modern stereotypes and prejudices still present in the perception of Egypt and its inhabitants, as well as compare what has changed in the Polish-Egyptian, or – in the broader perspective – Polish-Arabic relations, and what has remained the same.
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Since the publication is also intended for readers who are not specialised scholars, this book uses simplified Polish transcription^() for terms of Arabic origin. However, for reasons of clarity, the first occurrence of a particular term includes, in parentheses, the spelling that follows the scientific ISO standards. The geographical names are written, according to the directives of the Committee for Standardisation of Geographic Names from Outside the Republic of Poland.
Agata S. Nalborczyk
Mustafa Switat
