East Central Europe Between the Colonial and the Postcolonial in the Twentieth Century

Siegfried Huigen is Professor of Dutch and South African Literature at the University of Wrocław in Poland and Visiting Professor at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. He has written and co-edited a number of books and journal articles on colonialism in South Africa, Indonesia and East Central Europe. His most recent book, Shaping a Dutch East Indies (2023), explores the construction of an authoritative representation of the Dutch colonial empire at the beginning of the eighteenth century.Dorota Kołodziejczyk is Associate Professor at the Institute of English Studies, University of Wrocław, Poland. She is Chair of Olga Tokarczuk Ex-Centre. Academic Research Centre, Director of the Postcolonial Studies Centre and board member of the Postdependence Studies Centre. Her publications include Postcolonial Perspectives on Postcommunism in Central and Eastern Europe (2016, 2018), co-edited with Cristina Sandru, three issues of the European Review co-edited with Siegfried Huigen, and studies in comparative literature.

“Kołodziejczyk and Huigen’s book is a collection of sound chapters that reiterate and reinforce the dominant idea about the ‘in-betweenness’ of East Central Europe, which, the argument continues, renders it only slightly different from Western Europe in its relations with the Global South but produces regional colonial dynamics. … this is a required reading for all interested in postcolonial studies and the past and present of the region.” (Piotr Puchalski, H-Soz-Kult, hsozkult.de, June 11, 2024)

• 1 East Central Europe Between the Colonial and the Postcolonial. A Critical Introduction(Dorota Kołodziejczyk, Siegfried Huigen).- 2 East Central Europe as a Historical and Conceptual Space. On the Production of Knowledge from an (Historical) Area Studies Perspective(Claudia Kraft).- 3 Polish Stereotypes of the East. Old and New Mechanisms of Orientalisation in the Regional and Transnational Dimensions(Tomasz Zarycki).- 4 Colonial Ambivalence and its Aftermath: Colonialism and Anti-Colonialism in Independent Poland and Ireland(Róisín Healy).- 5 The Unbearable Virtues of Backwardness: Mircea Eliade’s Conceptualization of Colonialism and His Attraction to Romania’s Interwar Fascist Movement(Raul Cârstocea).- 6 Reportage from the (Post-)Contact Zone: Polish Travellers to Decolonised India (1950-1980)(Agnieszka Sadecka).- 7 An East Central European “Sahib” in a Former Colony: Andrzej Bobkowski in Guatemala(Jagoda Wierzejska).- 8 Regained Landscapes.The Transfer of Power and Tradition in Polish Discourse of the Regained Territories(Kinga Siewior).- 9 Between Pedagogy and Self-Articulation: Roma Necessary Fictions in East Central Europe(Emilia Kledzik).- 10 Soviet Colonialism Reloaded. Encounters Between Russians and Central Europeans in Contemporary Literature(Miriam Finkelstein)