Department of Theory of Literature

Since 1945, research of the Department of Theory of Literature has been based on poetics (theoretical and practical), which is combined with various research methods and tools.

We are the oldest university department of theory of literature in the post-war history of Polish science.

For over sixty years, we have been the core of the editorial staff of "The Problems of Literary Genres"/ "Zagadnienia Genów Literackich".

We use the results of our research in our teaching activities, conducting classes for students of creative writing and other first and second-cycle courses at the Institute of Contemporary Culture.

Just as literary theory once provided tools for research on theatre and film, poetics still constitutes the basis for cultural research on literature conducted at the Department of Theory of Literature. The scientific and teaching activities of the Department include both theoretical poetics, especially for students of literary studies, and practical poetics, especially for students of creative writing.

Almost all researchers from the team were also united by the development of entries in the Dictionary of Literary Types and Genres (Krakow: Universitas 2006, ed. I, ed. G. Gazda, S. Tynecka-Makowska; Warsaw: PWN 2012, ed. II, ed. G. Gazda). Its two editions summarize the studies of genres initiated by prof. Stefania Skwarczyńska and documented since 1958 by the international semi-annual "The Problems of Literary Genres"/ "Zagadnienia Rodzinów Literackich", whose editor-in-chief is currently prof. Jarosław Płuciennik.

The poetics of Polish and world literature in theoretical, historical, and comparative terms unites the multitude of methodologies explored, developed, and practiced in the Department (including cognitivism, intertextuality, performance studies, feminism and gender studies, and postcolonialism). The interests of the researchers from the team include in particular:

the poetics of Polish and world literature of the 20th and 21st centuries; the evolution of genre and narrative forms in the context of cultural changes, including the phenomena of popular literature (phenomena such as Gothicism or fantasy), liberature, and electronic literature;

research on the theory of interpretation, the theory of dramatic text, the theory of the sublime and the issue of empathy, the theory and practice of the avant-garde, the correspondence of arts, and literary culture;

the connections between literature and anthropology and literature and history, literary representations of the Holocaust, and the history and culture of Jews, with particular emphasis on the Jewish tradition of Łódź.

In recent years, the Department has organized several international and national conferences: Chava Rosenfarb and Jewish Women Writers of the 20th Century (2023) in cooperation with the M. Edelman Dialogue Center; Creative Writing - Between the University and the Market (2016); Literature Rewritten (2014); On-line / Off-line – text and experience (2013); Types and styles of criticism (2011); Representations of the Shoah in literature and film in Central Europe: the post-war years (2011); Futurism. The future one hundred years later (2010); Literature, culture, and tolerance (2007); Garden space – space of culture (2006); Magical realism. Theories and artistic realizations (2004); Stereotypes in literature (and right next to it) – from IBL PAN (2002); Around gothicisms: imagination, horror, cruelty (2001);

The most important research projects currently conducted in the unit:

Zagadnienia Rodzajów Literackich"/"The Problems of Literary Genres" - a journal affiliated with the Dep. of Theory of Literature - in the years 2024-2026 implements a grant under the program “Czasopisma” [Journals] of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The project is managed by the Lodz Scientific Society (publisher), from the content side the Editorial Team (Prof. Jarosław Płuciennik and Anna Zatora, PhD) is responsible for coordination;

IDUB 2021 edition: Between (re)construction and emulation. Archiving and popularization of electronic literature - Kate Pullinger's archive (implementation period 2022-2025) - dr A. Przybyszewska.