The history of the Polish nation is inseparable from its cultural heritage which has in different periods been evaluated in various ways. Important achievements have been either belittled or completely ignored, while those of lesser value have been regarded as of significance. This has happened since the beginning of Poland’s existence as a state, for it is seldom that contemporaries appropriately evaluate the talent of an artist during his or her lifetime and very often the decisive role is played by other factors, such as social background, religious convictions and current ideology. Irrespective of the political and economic situation these factors have sometimes played a destructive and hampering, and sometimes a creative role in relation to culture; eventually, however, what counts Ls the appreciation and memory of future generations with regard to the status of an artist and the value of his or her achievement.

An Outline History of Polish Culture attempts to present those achievements which made a permanent contribution to the history of European culture rather than to describe the meandering process of cultural development in Poland. The book has been written by ten authors, eight of them researchers from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Originally it appeared as a mimeographed publication intended for foreign students with Polish antecedente. The interest it enjoyed made us publish it in book form, updated, enlarged and illustrated.

An Outline History of Polish Culture by Jagiellonian University