“National Reading” is an initiative of the Polish Presidential Couple, Andrzej Duda and Agata Konrnhauser-Duda which started in 2012. The goals of the annual “National Readings” are to foster a better understanding of the Polish literary canon, discuss its contemporary relevance, and unite people around reading.
The first year Poland (and Poles in other countries) read and discussed “Pan Tadeusz”; in the subsequent years among the texts used were “Wesele” (“The Wedding”), “Trylogia” (“The Trilogy”) and “Nad Niemnem” (“On the Niemen River”).
This year’s choice for the “National Reading” is Juliusz Słowacki’s “Kordian”, an iconic text of Polish romanticism, a play written in reaction to the failed November Uprising and published in 1834. In the letter announcing this choice, President Andrzej Duda writes: “(…) Słowacki’s drama tells the story of the Poles’ fight against tsarism, but it can also be treated as a story about our contemporary times. About the fact that freedom and independence require selfless sacrifice and constant readiness to act.”
We are inviting everybody to participate in our own local reading of “Kordian” which is planned for Saturday, September 14, at the campus at Orchard Lake Schools.
The event is organized by the Polish Media Center of the Polish Institute for Culture & Research.
More information about our event is soon to come.
Right now we would like to encourage you to start with reading the play. The Polish text is available for free at: https://wolnelektury.pl/media/book/pdf/kordian.pdf. The English translation is available at different libraries (search: https://search.worldcat.org/title/738354641 )
The next step will be choosing a fragment which you would like to share with others. It could be in Polish or in the English translation. Perhaps you would like to read a monolog, or with a couple of friends, read one of the scenes.
In the afternoon of September 7th (please mark your calendar!) we will meet to read fragments of the play. It is a rather complicated text, so through a close reading and with some help of literary and history experts we hope to discover its possible meanings as well as contemporary relevance.
Please join us on September 14! It will be fun and educational!
Let’s us know if you decide to read a fragment of the play on September 7th!
Stay tuned for more information!
More about President Andrzej Duda’s initiative: https://www.prezydent.pl/aktualnosci/inicjatywy/narodowe-czytanie/2024-kordian