Maria Fengler – författare

This book explores the amorphous, fragmented and digressive world of George Gordon Byron’s poetic works, which are pervaded by the themes of change, mutability, deformation and transgression, often presented or described as madness. The blurring of the border between fiction and reality is a matter of the author’s decisions concerning both his life and his texts, and a conscious process of construction and self-fashioning. It is also a recurring epistemological theme in Byron’s works, which make take the form of　narrative dis-orientation and the dismantling of easy cultural pre-conceptions. The Authors study Byron’s artistic quixotism and his pursuit of creative freedom which reveals itself in the Romantic irony, digressiveness and self-awareness of his writings.

The studies collected in this volume offer multidisciplinary perspectives on modern Gdansk. The chapters provide insight into the city's literature and culture, analysing works by leading Polish authors, exploring the complexities of the commemoration of the Jewish presence, as well as illuminating the city's Christian heritage, enshrined in its Bibles and churches. A similar focus on the past and the present marks the studies of the models of education in Gdansk before the Second World War and after the fall of communism. Finally, linguistic analyses of internet corpora address the issues of the living language spoken in Gdansk as well as used to describe the city. Collectively, the contributors paint a picture of an open, vibrant and innovative city proud of its multicultural and multilingual past.