A landmark study of the shifting narratives around manhood in 20th-century Polish culture
A popular meme format juxtaposes two male images. One is contemporary: a thoroughly ‘unmanly’ boy, with unorthodox clothing and an emaciated frame; he might be wearing makeup or a strange dye-job. The other picture introduces an impeccably dressed gentleman of yesteryear; his subdued colour palate, white shirt and classic haircut ooze elegance and refinement. The caption reads, ‘Men then vs. men today: what went wrong?’
This amusing type of meme conveys the popular wisdom that ‘there aren’t any real men anymore’, that ‘real men’ are a thing of the past, and that contemporary men can’t be compared with the generation of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.
Well before the era of memes had begun, Polish performer Danuta Rinn gave voice to the same idea in a song:
Where are the men, the real ones,
Eagles, falcons, heroes?
Where are the guys who gave so much,
Where are all the boys? Ayayay!
Now they’re neurotic, hysterical,
petty schemers or dweebs, unserious, insincere.
Like dolls to play with and toss aside
With mouths full of Vaseline and shifty eyes
Without dignity, honour, they can’t get their stories straight
And they whisper after dinner, whisper, whisper, whisper…
Ever since the phenomenon of The Older Gentlemen’s Cabaret (Kabaret Starszych Panów) on Polish television in the 1960s, we seem to have considered ideals of masculinity from the interwar period to be particularly appealing. The roster of archetypes from that time includes – as a popular book on the subject suggests – ‘cavalrymen, poets and gentlemen’. Our overwhelmingly favourable perception of masculinity from that era might stem from the way it harmoniously combines uniquely Polish customs such as the uhlan cavalrymen, the universal modernity of gentlemen, and even the sublime, artistic creativity and freedom of poets. Athletes (Janusz Kusociński, Stanisław Marusarz), pilots (Franciszek Żwirko, Stanisław Wigura), actors (Eugeniusz Bodo, Witold Conti) and singers (Jan Kiepura) could easily be included in that category, too. Why, even criminals like Papa Tasiemka and Urke Nachalnik had their own sort of honour and flair.
This concept is obviously highly idealised. We remember General Wieniawa as ‘Caesar’s favourite’ and an occasional guest at Warsaw artists’ cafes, but we rarely think about him as a person struggling with alcoholism, depression and anger problems. As the autobiography of one of his contemporaries describes him: ‘From time to time, he’d give someone on the dance floor “a pack of fives” if their phiz was too oriental for his liking. Strangely few Varsovians took issue with his cavalier pranks.’
Another problem with this picture is that it is so arbitrary and coded. I call it ‘arbitrary’ because our conceptualisation of Polish masculinity in the interwar period is made up of a series of iconic names stuck together without a larger organising principle. And I say ‘coded’ since the whole narrative is based on a few evocative slogans and associations, from the ‘Polish code of honour’, to war songs, to aristocratic pastimes like sleigh rides and hunts. You don’t need a well-developed historical consciousness to suspect that our narrative about men and masculinity between the world wars skips over the experiences of most men.
Who disappears from view? Jewish men, the largest minority group in the Second Polish Republic; the image of masculinity left for posterity was thoroughly gentile. It should come as no surprise that European societies at the end of the 19th century had already begun to excise Jewish people from the national consciousness. As George L. Mosse argues, the figure of the Jew had become the antithesis of masculinity. Peasants, too. Until recently, that class of people—half of interwar society—were also absent from the picture. Peasant men had been disenfranchised and excluded from symbolic representation for centuries, and that state of affairs continued through the entire interwar period. Peasant masculinity was a source of contempt. When peasant men obstinately demanded their rights, they were demonised or mocked, at least in government-approved satires. Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski, a writer associated with interwar leader Józef Piłsudski, offered a masterful example of this in his epic Mateusz Bigda, whose titular hero is based on Wincenty Witos. But more on him later…
Translated by Jess Jensen Mitchell
A landmark study of the shifting narratives around manhood in 20th-century Polish culture
Translation rights: Zofia Dimitrijević, zofia.dimitrijevic@czarne.com.pl
After Valour is a radically open-minded history of masculinity in contemporary Polish culture. One journalist described it as ‘eye-opening, groundbreaking and thorough’ while a literary scholar called it ‘probably the most important Polish-language publication in recent years’ to address the social implications of gender and sexuality. Author Wojciech Śmieja, a noted scholar of gender studies and literary history, offers a diagnosis of the ongoing crisis of masculinity through a detailed, often surprising journey through 20th-century Poland. The book is divided into three sections, each corresponding to a distinct period in Polish history and its prevailing fiction around manhood: ‘Bravery’, about the interwar period (1918–1939); ‘Advancement’, about life under communism (1945–1989); and ‘Success’, about the transition to liberal democracy in the 1990s. The study ends on a cautiously optimistic note, suggesting that global forces, local movements, and individual actions could lead to greater equality and a more just world.
Written in an erudite, yet playful style, After Valour provides numerous examples from literature, photography and pop culture. Students and educators working on Polish history and culture will consider it an important addition to their libraries. The book will appeal to readers interested in gender and sexuality, just as it fills an important gap in representations of central and eastern European perspectives on those topics.
Jess Jensen Mitchell
Selected samples
She climbed her first peaks in a headscarf at a time when women in the mountains were treated by climbers as an additional backpack. It was with her that female alpinism began! She gained recognition in a spectacular way. The path was considered a crossing for madmen. Especially since the tragic accident in 1929, preserved … Continue reading “Halina”
First, Marysia, a student of an exclusive private school in Warsaw’s Mokotów district, dies under the wheels of a train. Her teacher, Elżbieta, tries to find out what really happened. She starts a private investigation only soon to perish herself. But her body disappears, and the only people who have seen anything are Gniewomir, a … Continue reading “Wound”
A young girl, Regina Wieczorek, was found dead on the beach. She was nineteen years old and had no enemies. Fortunately, the culprit was quickly found. At least, that’s what the militia think. Meanwhile, one day in November, Jan Kowalski appears at the police station. He claims to have killed not only Regina but also … Continue reading “Penance”
The year is 1922. A dangerous time of breakthrough. In the Eastern Borderlands of the Republic of Poland, Bolshevik gangs sow terror, leaving behind the corpses of men and disgraced women. A ruthless secret intelligence race takes place between the Lviv-Warsaw-Free City of Gdańsk line. Lviv investigator Edward Popielski, called Łysy (“Hairless”), receives an offer … Continue reading “A Girl with Four Fingers”
This question is closely related to the next one, namely: if any goal exists, does life lead us to that goal in an orderly manner? In other words, is everything that happens to us just a set of chaotic events that, combined together, do not form a whole? To understand how the concept of providence … Continue reading “Order and Love”
The work of Józef Łobodowski (1909-1988) – a remarkable poet, prose writer, and translator, who spent most of his life in exile – is slowly being revived in Poland. Łobodowski’s brilliant three- volume novel, composed on an epic scale, concerns the fate of families and orphans unmoored by the Bolshevik Revolution and civil war and … Continue reading “Ukrainian Trilogy: Thickets, The Settlement, The Way Back”
