2023 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Olga Tokarczuk's Poetic Anthropology: Spheres and Intertexts
| Project/Area Number |
22K00480
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| Research Institution | University of Tsukuba |
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Principal Investigator |
ヘーゼルハウス ヘラト 筑波大学, 人文社会系, 准教授 (40375382)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2022-04-01 – 2026-03-31
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| Keywords | Olga Tokarczuk / Polish Literature / Poetic Anthropology / Spherology |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The second research year of this project focused in 2023 on Tokarczuk’s earlier novel "Primeval and Other Times". The original research plan was threefold: to compile relevant research literature on this text, to reconstruct, analyze and interpret a corpus of Gnosticism, and to analyze how and to what extent Tokarczuk is adapting these religious concepts for the construction of her text. The bibliographical research revealed the continuous desideratum of this research perspective. The analysis of the religious texts was quite time-consuming but did support the prior research hypothesis of intertextual adaptation, however as a highly hybridized procedure, therefore, further compilation was necessary. This slight and fruitful change in perspective was accomplished by my research results in 2022 which shed new light on the novel at hand. It brought not only to the fore the emotional and psychological structures of the narratives and their anthropological framework, but also revealed how contemporary political and social events, resulting from the times of Tokarczuk’s publication, are reflected and fractured in these conceptual structures. I have continued to disseminate research results of both research years directly in various graduate and undergraduate classes. In 2023, I also gave four lectures (two international and two national) and published already one paper, a second is being reviewed now, and a third is for a journal later this year.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
This year’s research has been very time-consuming, not only because of the scarcity of relevant documents and existing research contributions to this topic, but also because of the complexity of the adaptation processes, which I had not expected to such an extent. However, my research has been exceedingly fruitful not only for this specific project at hand, but also for further research activities, as can be seen in the disseminated material and presentations. The perspective of my research has continually been broadening, while at the same time showing an ever clearer and more intricate structure. The findings of this year will be very supportive for the continuation of the project.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The overall research scheme of this project will continue as it was developed at the time of application. This means that in 2024 my research will focus on the next novel by Tokarczuk, “Flights”, starting with the basic analysis of the text, compilation of material, research contributions etc. Because of the price hike in travel expenditures, I have been saving research money in this year 2023, in order to finance intensive research trips to Germany and Poland in 2024, and to interview the author Olga Tokarczuk herself. 2024 will also be an important time to take stock of the results and prospects of this project and to draft the framework of a monograph.
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| Causes of Carryover |
I have postponed research trips and in-person international conference participations, because of the price hike in travel expenditures. In this year and last year, 2022 and 2023, I have been saving research money, in order to finance intensive research trips to Germany and Poland in 2024 (also for reasons of international co-operation), and to interview the author Olga Tokarczuk herself. Both are parts of my original research financing plans, as stated in the application. I will need to buy a new laptop for this research. There is a lot of expensive, rare material that I need to buy for analysis.
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