Heroes’ Square is the last play ever written by Thomas Bernhard. Created to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of Ringstrasse’s Burgtheater, its premiere caused unparalleled controversy in Austria, making it one of the largest theatre scandals of the late twentieth century. During our discussion we will be talking about contexts key to the inception and reception of the drama and about the text’s validity and relevance as well as about whether the Austrianness described by Bernhard can be in any way transposed onto the Polishness of today.

With participation of: Jacek St. Buras, Karol Franczak, Adam Lipszyc

Moderated by: Agata Wittchen-Barełkowska

Jacek St. Buras – translator of German language literature, literary critic, author of translations of poetry (among others by P. Celan, B. Brecht, G. Benn), essays (among others by R. Musil), prose (among others by H. Burger, Ch. Ransmayr), and over 70 theatre plays (among others by G. E. Lessing, J. W. Goethe, F. Schiller, H. von Kleist, F. Bruckner, Ö. von Horváth, B. Brecht, F. Dürrenmatt, H. Müller, T. Dorst, T. Bernhard). Recipient of numerous Polish and international awards for his translation output.

Karol Franczak – sociologist and cultural analyst, associate professor at University of Łódź’s Sociology Institute; his main scholarly interests include issues related to authority and communication, sociology of culture and contemporary art. Author of a monograph on subversive Austrain writers Kalający własne gniazdo. Artyści i obrachunek z przeszłością (Universitas) and of the preface to Thomas Bernhard’s novel Kalkwerk (Officyna). Published essays on Austrian literature in among others Odra and Tygodnik Powszechny.

Adam Lipszyc – essayist and translator, works at Polish Academy of Sciences’ Philosophy and Sociology Department, teaches at the School of Social Sciences, at Collegium Civitas, and at Walter Benjamin’s University of Muri. Author of books: Międzyludzie. Koncepcja podmiotowości w pismach Harolda Blooma (Kraków, 2005), Ślad judaizmu w filozofii XX wieku (Warszawa, 2009), Rewizja procesu Józefiny K. i inne lektury od zera (Warszawa, 2011), Sprawiedliwość na końcu języka. Czytanie Waltera Benjamina (Kraków, 2012), Czas wiersza. Paul Celan i teologie literackie (Kraków, 2015). Laureate of numerous awards, including: Literatura na Świecie Prize, Nagroda Literacka Gdynia, and Allianz Kulturstiftung.

Agata Wittchen-Barełkowska – PhD, Polish philologist, theatre scholar. She has been publishing in i.a. Teatr, Didaskalia, Ruch Literacki, Kwartalnik Artystyczny, and Czas Kultury. Wrote her PhD dissertation on Thomas Bernhard oeuvre Recipient of Stipendienstiftung der Republik Österreich, thanks to which she carried out six-month research in the Thomas Bernhard archives in Austria. Author of a monograph entitled Kategoria teatralności w dziele Thomasa Berharda.

Partner of the event: Austriackie Forum Kultury