Piśmiennictwo religijne polskich Tatarów w okresie powojennym (1945–1989)

Religious Literature of Polish Tatars in the Post-War Period (1945–1989)The article opens with a general overview of the socio-political situation of the Tatars and the specificity of their religiosity in the People’s Republic of Poland (1945–1989), leading to the main part: an analysis of ephemeral religious prints created and distributed by Polish Tatars. The description of the sources is introduced with a presentation of the broad socio-political context which determined the functioning of this minority after World War II. The study characterises the basic types of religious literature of the Tatars: (a) traditional manuscripts, (b) periodicals and publishing activities, (c) ephemeral prints. It also considers the significance of these types of literature in the period between 1945 and 1989. The analysis of seven prayer books and three teaching materials provides the basis of general observations concerning ephemeral religious prints created by Polish Tatars after World War II. The analysed sources have not as yet been studied by researchers. Piśmiennictwo religijne polskich Tatarów w okresie powojennym (1945–1989)Artykuł rozpoczyna się od przybliżenia położenia społeczno-politycznego Tatarów w PRL-u oraz specyfiki ich religijności, by dojść do szczegółowych kwestii, związanych z analizą religijnych druków ulotnych opracowanych przez polskich Tatarów. Charakterystykę opartą na źródłach poprzedziło zatem przedstawienie szerokiego kontekstu społeczno-politycznego, który determinował sposób funkcjonowania tej mniejszości w Polsce po II wojnie światowej. Autorzy scharakteryzowali podstawowe typy piśmiennictwa religijnego Tatarów: a) tradycyjne rękopiśmiennictwo, b) czasopiśmiennictwo i działalność wydawniczą, c) druki ulotne. Zwrócono przy tym uwagę na znaczenie poszczególnych rodzajów piśmiennictwa w okresie 1945–1989. Charakterystyki religijnych druków ulotnych, opracowanych przez polskich Tatarów po II wojnie światowej, dokonano na przykładzie 7 modlitewników oraz 3 materiałów dydaktycznych. Dokumenty te dotąd nie były przedmiotem badań naukowych.

O wpływie spuścizny Świętej Teresy z Ávili na piśmiennictwo i kulturę polskiego baroku

The subject of this article is to discuss the penetration of influences of Spanish mysticism, in particular, the works of Saint Teresa of Ávila, on the literature and culture of the Polish Baroque. The intercultural influence of Spanish mysticism on Polish artists is reflected in the translations of the writings of Saint Teresa of Ávila. The considerations focus on the influence of the mysticism of Saint Teresa on mystical autobiographies and anonymous poetry of Carmelite nuns from Krakow from the 17th and 18th centuries. The reflection also covers the centres of the veneration of the saint in Poland, in services and prayer books, and her popularisation through art. Mystical influences are also visible in the poetry of the 17th and 18th centuries, including poetry by Kasper Twardowski, Sebastian Grabowiecki, Stanisław Grochowski, Mikołaj Mieleszko, Zbigniew Morsztyn, Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Elżbieta Drużbacka, and Konstancja Benisławska. The Polish-Spanish ties situate the research issues undertaken in a comparative context, without which the studies on post-Tridentine spirituality would not have produced real achievements.

The Regional Recitations of al-Jazūlī’s Dalāʾil al-Ḫayrāt as Reflected in Its Manuscript Tradition

Muḥammad al-Jazūlī’s Dalāʾil al-Ḫayrāt is one of the most popular and widespread Islamic prayer books in the Sunni Islamic world; consequently, most library collections around the world have many copies of this manuscript. Despite its prolific written form, it is its recitation that should probably be considered the most prominent expression of the text. This paper undertakes a careful analysis of the vocalization and orthoepic signs added to three vocalized copies of 18th-century Dalāʾil al-Ḫayrāt manuscripts from Mali, the Maghreb, and Turkey. It reveals that they each have distinct recitation styles with their own phonological and morphological features, distinct from the rules applied in Classical Arabic prose text. Moreover, it is shown that these recitation styles clearly draw upon the rules of local Quranic reading traditions, while not entirely assimilating to them, thus giving a distinct local orthoepic flavour to the manner in which this text was recited.

Everyday Life from a Sacral Perspective. Individual Entries in Prayer Books of Intentions as Material for Social Research

This paper presents the exploratory potential of entries in prayer books of intentions displayed in places of worship and in their online counterparts—virtual boxes of intentions. By reporting the happiness, dramas, and the whole element of human existence, individual prayer intentions are extremely authentic and valuable source materials. Their analysis requires extraordinary ethical sensitivity on the part of the researcher. Based on a review of previous research explorations and my own research, a four-dimensional model of analysis is proposed, consisting of the following areas: axionormative, communitarian, communicative, and ordinary theology. It can be useful for developing analyses of such documents and also allows for comparative research. The text also discusses the limitations associated with such analyses and briefly signals the basic ethical dilemmas and possible directions for further research using prayer entries.

“Gathering the Dispersed of Israel”: The Evolution of a Kabbalistic Prayer Addendum for Tiqqun Qeri

This article traces the evolution of a kabbalistic prayer supplication that was designed to purify male Jews from pollution caused by improper seminal emission. In doing so, it focuses on the metaphysical rationale behind it, its function, and its metamorphosis from a highly technical practice into a mainstream devotional practice. It addresses how notions of sexual pollution (qeri) were contextualized in Lurianic Kabbalah and how they were later embedded in kabbalistic manuals and prayer books. Furthermore, the article examines Jewish-Christian and inner- Jewish debates that emerged in connection with the effects of spilling semen in vain. Special attention is paid to possible social factors that may have impacted the increased anxiety about male bodily fluids and “misguided” desires. In addition to the available research on the theological and general historical background of the prohibition of wasting seed, the following analysis offers a microhistory of this short yet highly influential text.

Writing and Reading about Death

This chapter considers the transformation from a culture of speaking about death to one which included writing and reading about death. It spotlights the final quarter of the nineteenth century, from the creation of the British Crown Colony of the Gold Coast in 1874 to its expansion with the formal incorporation of Asante and the savanna hinterland to the north in 1901–2. The chapter focuses on literacy and print culture as they developed on the Gold Coast littoral, a process which would extend into Asante and beyond only in the twentieth century. This print culture comprised both vernacular African languages and, with the departure of the Dutch in 1872, the language of the remaining colonizing power: English. The former was particularly associated with the Basel Mission, whose European and African agents pioneered the transcription of Ga and Twi as written languages and produced the first vernacular printed texts: prayer books, primers, dictionaries, the gospels and, by the 1860s to 1870s, compete translations of the Bible. The Bible, of course, has a great deal to say about mortality and the ends of life, however, the chapter concentrates on a different, secular medium of entextualized discourses about death: newspapers, which, as in Europe, 'accorded mortality new openings.'

Kult św. Józefa na podstawie współczesnych modlitewników

The cult of. St. Joseph based on contemporary prayer books The ongoing year of St. Joseph is a great opportunity to have a look at the cult of the Saint in the light of the available prayer books. The article presents the diversity of the cult and discusses various forms of the worship since its beginning. It analyses prayers to St. Joseph such as: the litany, the novena prayer, the Rosary, the Oath, the Morning prayers, the Scapular prayer, the Akathist and other prayers, services and songs in honour of St. Joseph. The aim of the article is to encourage Christians to adapt the cult of St. Joseph to their individual needs. Abstrakt Trwający w Kościele Rok św. Józefa jest okazją do spojrzenia na kult tego świętego przez pryzmat dostępnych modlitewników. Począwszy od zarysu historii kultu, w artykule ukazano różnorodność jego form. Omówiono następujące rodzaje modlitw ku czci św. Józefa: litanie, nowenny, szkaplerz, płaszcz, cześć nieustającą, miesiąc ku czci św. Józefa, telegram, różaniec i koronkę, godzinki, akty i oddania, pieśni, akatyst, a także inne modlitwy oraz nabożeństwa: siedmiu boleści i radości, septennę (siedem kolejnych śród), siedmiu niedziel, do Przeczystego Serca (pięciu pierwszych śród miesiąca), do opieki. Artykuł stanowi zachętę do osobistego praktykowania nabożeństwa do św. Józefa dostosowanego do indywidualnych potrzeb wierzących.

Modlitewniki dla Żydówek w języku polskim, ich autorzy i użytkowniczki. Casus Żydów warszawskich połowy XIX wieku

Prayer Books for Jewish Women in Polish, Their Authors and Users: The Case of Jews in Warsaw in the Mid-Nineteenth Century In the nineteenth century, only two prayer books for Jewish women and girls were published in the Polish language: one written by Jakub Elsenberg (Warsaw 1855) and the other by Rozalia Saulson (Warsaw 1861). This small numer contrasts with the numerous editions of tkhines in Yiddish and Andachts- and Gebetbücher in German. The aim of the paper is to discuss the circumstances of the creation of both books and specificity of these editions. The origins of the users of the Warsaw’s prayer books according to the list of subscribers (and using the data of genealogical sources) are also considered.

Orthography of books and their authors at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century

During development of the Standard Lithuanian language at the end of the 19th century, the dialectal basis was chosen first, and the orthography varied yet for another twenty years. This article analyses the dual orthography – of books and personal orthography of their authors. The study is designed to find out whether the books published during that period reflect the orthographic model chosen by their authors; what factors, in addition to the author’s choice, may have influenced the orthography of the books.The influence of printers on the orthography of books during that period was smaller than before, as many authors did the proofreading themselves. Thus, printers were able to change the orthography in cases where books were printed without the author’s knowledge or consent, such as prayer books. If the author chose unusual, rare, or even self-invented characters, a limited inventory of prints could be a serious obstacle to keep their orthography in the book. As the case of Jonas Basanavičius shows, even when the author offered to finance the acquisition of the necessary prints, this was not necessarily done.At the end of the 19th century, books were published as supplements to periodicals. The editors of newspapers Ūkininkas and Tėvynės sargas adapted the orthography of such books to their periodicals. Under the terms of the press ban, it was often important for authors just to print a book, and the spelling model was chosen by the publisher. However, authors such as Basanavičius, who considered themselves the creators of the standard language, took care to present their chosen or created model of orthography in their books as well.As the cases of Liudvika Didžiulienė, Dominykas Tumėnas and Basanavičius show, two orthographic standards emerged during the research period: correspondence was written one way and books were printed another. Hence, it is not always possible to judge the orthographic model chosen by the authors in books published at the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century.