Free eBooks Breathing Under Water And Other East European Essays Available To Downloads
Stanislaw Baranczak, a Polish writer in exile, turns to his colleagues and their plights, in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the Soviet Union, to explain why oppressive regimes could not succeed in their attempts to transform the Eastern European into Homo sovieticus.These superb essays focus on the role that culture, and particularly literature, has played in keeping the spirit of intellectual independence alive in Eastern and Central Europe. Exploring a variety of issues from censorship to underground poetry, Baranczak shows why, in societies where people struggle to survive under totalitarian rule, art is believed to have the power to make things happen.He brings into sharp relief the works and personalities of many legendary figures of recent Eastern European political and cultural history from Lech Walesa and Pope John Paul II to Václav Havel and Adam Michnik to Czeslaw Milosz, Witold Gombrowicz, Bruno Schulz, and Joseph Brodsky--and makes vivid the context from which they spring. Some of the essays probe the sense of inarticulateness experienced by writers in exile; many represent the literary essay at its best; all reveal that Baranczak is a sophisticated, often savagely funny writer on whom nothing is lost. This refreshing and provocative book guides us toward a clearer understanding of what has led to the present moment, in which the nations of Eastern and Central Europe, tired of striving to "breathe under water," are finally "coming up for air." It is rewarding reading for anyone interested in art's confrontation with an intractable political reality--wherever it occurs in the world.
Hardcover: 258 pages
Publisher: Harvard University Press; First Edition edition (August 27, 1990)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0674081250
ISBN-13: 978-0674081253
Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 0.8 x 9.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
Best Sellers Rank: #466,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #24 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Regional & Cultural > European > Eastern #3765 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Movements & Periods #9602 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Sociology
A must read for our times.
Breathing under Water and Other East European Essays Super Power Breathing: For Super Energy, High Health & Longevity (Bragg Super Power Breathing for Super Energy) Fruit Infused Water: 80 Vitamin Water Recipes for Weight Loss, Health and Detox Cleanse (Vitamin Water, Fruit Infused Water, Natural Herbal Remedies, Detox Diet, Liver Cleanse) Vocational & Technical Schools - East: More Than 2,600 Vocational Schools East of the Mississippi River (Peterson's Vocational & Technical Schools & Programs: East) Essays That Will Get You into Medical School (Essays That Will Get You Into...Series) [Second Edition] (Barron's Essays That Will Get You Into Medical School) Power and Water in the Middle East: The Hidden Politics of the Palestinian-Israeli Water Conflict Water Treatment WSO: Principles and Practices of Water Supply Operations Volume 1 (Water Supply Operations Series) Water Quality & Treatment: A Handbook on Drinking Water (Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Series) Fruit Infused Water: 101 Fruit Infused Water Recipes for Weight Loss, Detox and Metabolism Boosting Vitamin Water Water is Life: Different Sources of Water and Ways to Conserve Them (For Early Science Learners): Nature Book for Kids - Earth Sciences (Children's Water Books) The Wonders of Water - How H2O Can Transform Your Life: Vitality, Detox, Weight Loss, Quality Water, Benefits (Water Health, Vitality, Weight Loss, Fruit Infused Book 1) Solar PV Powered UV Water Treatment: How to Solar Power UV Water Sterilizing Systems for Drinking Water Onsite Culture and European Union Law (Oxford Studies in European Law) The European Union: Readings on the Theory and Practice of European Integration Migration and Mobility in the European Union (The European Union Series) Good Faith in European Contract Law (The Common Core of European Private Law) Precontractual Liability in European Private Law (The Common Core of European Private Law) The Political System of the European Union (European Union (Paperback Adult)) Understanding the European Union: A Concise Introduction (The European Union Series) Understanding the European Union: A Concise Introduction (European Union (Paperback Adult))
