Publisher: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego

The language of artistic performances: Italian-Polish terminology of theatre, cinema, radio and television

Il linguaggio dello spettacolo. Lessico italiano-polacco del teatro, del cinema, della radio edella televisione

Author(s): Tomasz Kaczmarek,Anna Jarosz / Language(s): Polish,Italian

Keywords: performance; theatre;cinematography;television;radio

The monograph constitutes a compendium of knowledge related to the field of artistic performances approached in their diverse aspects, such as theatre, cinema, television and radio as well as dance, music, circus, press or art. The academic dimension of the work is manifested in the theoretical thorough literature overview, which introduces the reader into the world of artistic performances outlining at the same time their historical development, the interdisciplinary and complex nature of the corpus as well as extensive and rich bibliography. Since the monograph addresses the needs of a wide range of readers (i.e. translators, students, literary scholars, linguists and artistic performance lovers), it has the potential to exert considerable social influence.

The specificity of the language of the worlds of Ivan Bunin

Specyfika języka światów Iwana Bunina

Author(s): Ivan Smirnov / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Bunin; immigration; Nobel Prize;Russian diaspora;revolution

In the monograph the author examines the creative activity of the classic of Russian literature I. Bunin from the point of view of mediation. Contrary to the popular belief that the writer in his work focused only on the two main themes of love and death, the author questions the categorical judgments and argues that the artist's literary principles of opposing revolutionary bloodshed should be considered as the forerunners of mediation. The thoughts of the writer, reflected in his diaries of poetry and prose are permeated with the desire to prevent the destruction of the state, find a compromise, and preserve Russian culture, the purity of the language and Russia. Published at the beginning of the last century, Rozanov's philosophical works on people of the “non-binary gender” make it possible to rethink the nature of the psychological, aesthetic and erotic components of sex drive in the works of Russian classical literature, in particular, Bunin's short story “Easy Breath”

Names of the non profit organisations in Italy in the chrematonomastic perspective

Nomi delle organizzazioni non profit in Italia nella prospettiva crematonomastica

Author(s): Justyna Groblińska / Language(s): Italian

Keywords: Linguistic studies;Onomastics;Chrematonomastics;non profit organisations;Italy

The book Nomi delle organizzazioni non profit in Italia nella prospettiva crematonomastica [Names of the non profit organisations in Italy in the chrematonomastic perspective] consists of two main parts. The first, theoretical one (the initial chapters, considerations about the marketing functions of the non-profit organisations’ names, as well as the final chapter) and the analytical, central one (chapter Analisi del corpus). divided into five parts (onomastic, formal, rhetorical, semantic, thematic).The most important conclusions are the following: the confirmation of the marketing function of non–profit organisations’ names and, more generally, social chrematonyms, and their ensuing affinity to marketing chrematonyms; the confirmation of the chrematonomastic utility in foreign language didactics (at least on the basis of a wide variety of semantic types, as well as the formal ones); a rich repertory of naming and – more generally – linguistic creations made by authors of Italian non–profit organisations’ names compatible with present tendencies of the modern Italian language; the demonstration of general tendencies within the analysed material and quantitative data with frequent (e.g., those based on the adverb insieme or on the names of John Paul II) or rare uses (e.g., those evoking the Appennini oronym); the formulation of significant determinants in the process of creating a new social chrematonym, in particular a non–profit organisation name; the proof of the significance of chrematonomastics, its equivalence in relation to anthroponomastics and toponomastics, particularly in the era of modern civilisation changes and the negation of the concept of chrematonomastic ‘rubbish bin’ in onomastic research.

Culture of the Reformation and reforming of culture

Kultura reformacji i reformowanie w kulturze

Author(s): / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Marcin Luter; kontrreformacja; Julia Hartwig; kalwinizm; luteranizm; Oświecenie; reformacja; protestantyzm

Już od czasów Maxa Webera w refleksji naukowej i filozoficznej pojawiała się myśl, że reformacja to nie tylko zjawisko historyczne, ale nade wszystko społeczno-kulturowe. Kojarzą się z nią m.in.: indywidualizm, doświadczeniowość, nowoczesność, innowacja, aktywizm, asceza w świecie, kreatywność, samorefleksja, komunitarianizm, oszczędność, rozwój rachunkowości, krytycyzm, kapitalizm, kultura pisma i druku, odczarowanie, sekularyzacja. To jedynie kilka przykładów zjawisk i wartości wiążących się nierozłącznie z szeroko rozumianą reformacją w kulturze. Samo istnienie reformacji owocuje historycznie pojęciem tolerancji i szacunku dla różnorodności, choć droga do tych wartości nie jest łatwa i bezbolesna.W dniach 22–24 maja 2017 roku odbyła się w Uniwersytecie Łódzkim i Akademii Muzycznej im. Bacewiczów w Łodzi interdyscyplinarna konferencja ze specjalnymi gośćmi z całego świata. W Łodzi obradowali m.in.: Rita Süssmuth (Niemcy), prof. Ian Hazlett (Glasgow, Szkocja), prof. lnes Murzaku (New Jersey, USA), prof. Ivo Pospíšil (Brno, Czechy), prof. Cora Dietl (Giessen, Niemcy), prof. Hans-Jürgen Bömelburg (Giessen, Niemcy).Tom zbiera wybrane aspekty kultury reformacji i reformowania w kulturze. Jest śladem tego, że wielokulturowa Łódź uczciła 500 lat reformacji, która przez dziesięciolecia odcisnęła także swój znaczący ślad w tym mieście.

Jacek Hugo-Bader. Wanderlust

Jacek Hugo-Bader. Włóczęga

Author(s): Izabella Adamczewska-Baranowska / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Creative nonfiction; reportage; gonzo; travelogue; Jacek Hugo-Bader;Gazeta Wyborcza; undercover reporting; faction

Reporters can be divided into those who are serious or frivolous, writing for either a highbrow or a mainstream audience. Jacek Hugo-Bader is the most famous Polish representative of real-life adventure writing. He’s the king of undercover reporting, a witty chronicler of the Polish political transformation and a tireless explorer of the decaying Imperium. He’s a daredevil and joker. Over the years, he has earned a fair number of detractors who scrutinize his texts for errors and inaccuracies, as well as devoted fans who are captivated by his honesty and uncompromising approach, and who admire his courage to step into other people’s shoes and gaze at the world ‘from an ant’s perspective’. “If we view reportage as the fruit of a mésalliance between literature and tabloids, then this child has inherited very little from his brutal father in flip-flops, boxer shorts and an undershirt,” Hugo-Bader wrote about Remigiusz Ryziński’s book Foucault in Warsaw. His own journalistic ‘children’ would be a cross between a nonchalant backpacker and Ryszard Kapuściński after drinking a few glasses of Russian vodka.The topos of a vagabond as the predominant interpretational mode for his books, in which he describes his own personal adventures, was suggested by Hugo-Bader himself in numerous texts that make reference to the motif of a ‘wandering dog’. In exploring the literary potential inherent in vagabondism, Izabella Adamczewska-Baranowska draws on the writings of Rebecca Solnit and the traditions of plebeian and picaresque literature, using certain techniques developed in literary studies as a response to what has become known as the ‘spatial turn’. The idea for the book’s structure is based on opposite concepts (centre/the provinces, East/West, underground movements/euphoric states). Not only is this book the first attempt to comprehensively present Hugo-Bader’s achievements as a reporter, but it’s also a partial biography of the author, who doesn’t like to talk about himself or provide readers with much of his own biography, although glimpses of his family life sometimes make their way into his texts. Adamczewska-Baranowska doesn’t conduct the kind of sleuthing undertaken by Artur Domosławski in his ‘investigation’ of Kapuściński, or Bill Steigerwald, who set out on Steinbeck’s trail. Her intention is neither to do an audit nor to focus on journalistic or personal ‘blunders’. It’s a presentation of a literary performance by a joculator – an itinerant actor, conjuror and trickster of Polish reportage.(transl. Scotia Gilroy)

Contemporary trends in business security. Problems and challenges of eastern economies

Współczesne trendy bezpieczeństwa biznesu. Problemy i wyzwania gospodarek wschodnich

Author(s): / Language(s): English,Polish,Ukrainian

Keywords: Ukraine; Poland;eastern economies;business; security;trends

Monograph Contemporary trends in business security. Problems and challenges of eastern economies is a scientific study that has been supported by empirical research and case studies. This monograph is the result of joint and individual international work, researching trends, problems and challenges facing eastern economies, especially in the field of business security. The periodic publication of research results ensures continuity and topicality of participation in the problems of the functioning of modern enterprises in an international, turbulent environment. Previous publications, which were created as part of the cooperation of students, doctoral students, research workers, representatives of local governments and business, were coordinated by the Center for Scientific and Research Cooperation: Poland-Ukraine, existing at the Faculty of Management of the University of Lodz and at the Lugansk National University. T. Shevchenko in Ukraine. NAWA's international project on scientific mobility between Poland and Ukraine for 2020/2021 has helped in the implementation of comprehensive research. The monograph contains only a part of the research results in the form of popular science articles. The remaining part was presented at the 3rd International Conference on Scientific and Research Conference in the area of Management, Economics, Marketing and Sociology in the perspective of multiculturalism on April 27, 2021 and at the 6th International Scientific Seminar Contemporary trends in international business security on June 1, 2021 in Kiev.

From geographical sciences towards geoinformation science

Od nauk geograficznych w kierunku nauki o geoinformacji

Author(s): Iwona Jażdżewska / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Geoinformation science; GIScience; geographical sciences; philosophy of science; geoinformation science in Poland

For several decades there has been functioning in the world science the term GIScience, among Polish researchers it appeared as the science of geoinformation. The publication recalls some of the most important philosophical concepts relevant to geographical sciences and geoinformation science. Many of them appeared before the first half of the twentieth century, i.e. in the time before the "digital and Internet revolution", therefore the discussion on the science of geoinformation takes into account the new challenges facing science and the new paradigms that are associated with it. These are closely related to the new technologies used in scientific research and the explosive growth of data. For this reason, aspects of the philosophy of science and technology are included in the publication. In the context of the division of geography into sub-disciplines, considerations on the short history of the development of geoinformation science in Poland from the scientific, didactic and organisational point of view are presented. They lead to the conclusion that it has a close relationship with geographical sciences and other disciplines and belongs to the group of disciplines understood as multi-, inter- or transdisciplinary sciences. This may mean that it is not possible to define for it a single pattern of rational research conduct, accepted by the majority of its representatives. Its development in historical, social, technical and political and spatial contexts has been and continues to be highly diverse. This causes some difficulties in discussing its development. However, it can be said that at the end of the second decade of the 21st century, the academic community representing GIScience worldwide appears as a group of scientists aware of its scientific potential. Among them are researchers from Poland who, within the framework of geographical sciences, start a conversation about the possibilities of developing geoinformation science in Poland.

Asia in World Politics: Past, Present, and Future

Asia in World Politics: Past, Present, and Future

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Keywords: China–U.S. relations; South China Sea; Sino-Cuban relations; North Korean nuclear crisis; Japan–South Korea relations; China

Quick growth of Chinese economy heralded a shift in the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific. In recent years China’s growing assertiveness, manifested by growing military presence in South China Sea, has been perceived as a major security challenge by most of the countries in the region. This situation is not simply a result of the recent changes in economic and political situation in the country, but rather a manifestation of a long history of building economic and political ties in the region and materialization of Chinese ambitions. It seems that China is finally able to materialize its long-time political ambitions in the region.Other security challenges like the nuclear program of North Korea and changing political situation in Myanmar attested to the increasing uncertainty of security situation in Asia which affects the global geopolitical landscape. Change of power in the United States, and Election of Donald Trump as American president in November 2016 was a signal of another shift in the regional security situation. New president following the slogan “America First” launched a process of renegotiating existing security treaties with Asian allies and presented a mare aggressive stance on China which very soon turned into a serious trade conflict. This monograph illustrates different aspects of these complex power shifts and their influence on the current geopolitical situation in the region.

Tuwim. A Rupture

Tuwim. Pęknięcie

Author(s): Katarzyna Kuczyńska-Koschany / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Julian Tuwim; Polish poetry; fate; imagination; Polish Jews; citizen

The monograph is about Julian Tuwim (1894-1953), a prominent poet, a creator of excellent poems for children, and a Polish Jew. The book is divided into three essential parts titled: childlike imagination, Jewishness of fate, civic (dis)obedience. It is a novel attempt in reading Tuwim that is different from the previous interpretations, and a very explicit renewal of his presence in the awareness and the collective imagination of Polish culture. The thought that the poet - a bibliophile, a translator, a curiosity collector, an author of cabaret texts and “a believer in the word” as he called himself - was an author who had experienced tragic fate and had struggled with it bravely in his poetry is the guiding thread of the book. The title of the study also refers to Tuwim’s illness and his death, to the topic of rupture in his poetry and to his dramatic fate as a Polish Jew. The part of the book dedicated to Tuwim’s predilection for Jesus Christ and Frederic Chopin is an anacrusis. Among the issues brought up here afresh - although already existing in the source literature - are the revolutionary take in the context of Rimbaud’s reception, the re-reading of the poet as the one who writes as a child, the parts about cities, the attempt to interpret the manifesto My, Żydzi Polscy [We, Polish Jews]. The book is enriched by unpublished until now passages of hand-written notes made by the poet’s sister, Irena Tuwim - also a poet and a known translator - and by other sources unused in previous monographs.

The final title of the publication: Economic and social development of Siberia. History and present

Rozwój gospodarczy i społeczny Syberii. Historia i współczesność

Author(s): Natasza Duraj / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Siberia;Russia;economic development;social development;development of Russia

The main goal of the monograph is to present the issues related to the economic and social development of Siberia. The work consists of five chapters presenting the history of the economies of individual Siberian administrative units and showing the current situation in each of them.

Practica et Speculativa

Practica et Speculativa

Author(s): / Language(s): English,Polish,German

Keywords: Immanuel Kant;Jürgen Habermas;Franz Kafka;Julius Fröbel;Leszek Kołakowski;Tomasz z Akwinu;history of philosophy

The Jubilee of Professor Andrzej M. Kaniowski’s seventieth birthday, in July 2021, was an opportunity to offer him this volume. Its authors are representatives of human and social studies, two closely related disci¬plines that are also His areas of interest.The interdisciplinary group of researchers have contributed their texts, which together make up a mosaic of problems and perspectives. The dominant topics are the philosophy of Kant and modern social, political and cultural issues. Many ideas and concepts reappear in several texts. In order to facilitate tracking them, the volume has been provided with a uniform system of citing Kant’s works and the index of authors. The papers of the international group of authors have been arranged, first of all, according to the language of composition (Polish, German, English), then according to the content in historical order. The whole volume presents an image of academic openness and com-mitment, for which the editors thank the authors. To Professor Kaniowski, they give thanks for such a lofty inspiration.

The Best Practice of Marketing Management in Polish and International Enterprises

The Best Practice of Marketing Management in Polish and International Enterprises

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Keywords: Digital Transformation;Internationalization of Enterprises;Viral Marketing;Portfolio Brand Strategy;Marketing Strategy;Marketing Practices;Brand Image

A frequency dictionary of Old English prose for learners of Old English and historical linguists

A frequency dictionary of Old English prose for learners of Old English and historical linguists

Author(s): Anna Cichosz,Piotr Pęzik,Maciej Grabski,Sylwia Karasińska,Michał Adamczyk,Paulina Rybińska,Aneta Ostrowska / Language(s): English

Keywords: Old English; historical linguists

A Frequency Dictionary of Old English Prose is a list of Old English words arranged according to their frequency, covering the whole York–Toronto–Helsinki Parsed Corpus of Old English Prose (Taylor et al. 2003), i.e. an electronic collection of all prose texts written in Old English. Thus, if you want to get a quick insight into a prose text written in Old English, you should start your study with the first entries. The dictionary includes all the words which occur at least 25 times in the corpus (over 2,700 entries altogether). Each lexical item is accompanied by its part of speech classification, translation into Modem English, an authentic example from the corpus (carefully handpicked to include the most basic words and thus be understandable even to beginners), the absolute frequency of the word in the corpus and the number of texts where it appears at least once.*The dictionary will prove an invaluable aid to learners of Old English. In addition to the basic list of lemmas in order of frequency, it highlights the distribution of lemmas within a number of exemplar texts, demonstrating in a striking way the value of learning lemmas in order of frequency. The frequency list is also interspersed with useful tables listing the most frequent lemmas within the major grammatical categories (pronouns, adjectives, verbs, etc.), but also quite a number of semantic categories, such as animals, body parts, temporal expressions, etc., which could potentially reveal insights into the Anglo-Saxon world. While primarily aimed at learners, the dictionary, particularly in conjunction with the online morphological and collocation dictionaries produced by the same team (http://varioe.pelcra.pl), will add to the growing number of excellent resources now available to support research by scholars of Old English prose.Ann Taylor, co-creator of the YCOE corpus, University of York (UK)A Frequency Dictionary of Old English Prose and its online sister tools, the morphological dictionary and the collocation dictionary, are much welcome resources for research and teaching. The frequency dictionary is a very useful guide for students of Old English who want to increase their vocabulary in a targeted way, and it provides an excellent overview of the Old English lexicon in general. Students can also have fun writing papers and theses on the basis of the resources, for example by identifying items of interest in the frequency dictionary and then searching for patterns in the collocation dictionary. The dictionary may also serve as an inspiration and a time-saving point of departure for research projects. It is very encouraging for the field that new resources are being created ta serve the community of Old English scholars.Kristin Bech, professor of English linguistics, University of Oslo (Norway)

Organizations towards the challenges of sustainable development - selected aspects

Organizacje wobec wyzwań zrównoważonego rozwoju – wybrane aspekty

Author(s): Łukasz Jarosław Kozar,Piotr Oleksiak / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: sustainable development;organisation;human capital;green competence;work-life balance

The monograph is part of a stream of considerations on current processes and phenomena related to the implementation of sustainable development in organisations. In this book, the authors emphasise that in the context of sustainable development of organisations, numerous views are being confronted and new theories are emerging. Therefore, the book should not be treated as an exhaustive analysis of the discussed aspects, but as a contribution to the discussion on the issue of changes in modern organisations in the face of sustainable development challenges. Its basic aim is to identify organisational solutions in the field of human resources management aimed at supporting sustainable development of organisations. On the basis of the selected aspects analysed, it is presented what changes can be made by a contemporary organisation wishing to enter the path of sustainable development. An important part of the analysis is devoted to the issue of sustainable human resources management. The authors point out that the transformation of an organisation towards sustainable development is impossible without the involvement of its employees in the process. Therefore, people managing organisations should direct their attention to creating green competences of their employees.

Economic value of public spaces. Capital, valuation, management

Ekonomiczna wartość przestrzeni publicznych. Kapitał, wycena, zarządzanie

Author(s): Jagoda Adamus,Zbigniew Przygodzki / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: economic value of public spaces;capital of public spaces;management of public spaces Business Improvement District;Town Centre Management

Economic value of public spaces. Capital, valuation, management is a position that is part of a wide range of research on urban space. However, the authors go beyond the research conducted so far in the field of architecture and sociology. The book presents the economic perspective in research on public spaces, which was treated as an economic good. The purpose of the book is to identify: 1. areas of capital accumulation that have a measurable, economic value and significance in the processes of socio-economic development; 2. ways of estimating the value of public spaces in order to prove their importance in economic development processes; 3. techniques and methods of coordination of management processes, i.e. models of effective management of public spaces. The publication identifies the basic capitals contained in public spaces (brands, cultural heritage, networks, social, creative and material) that determine its economic value. The logical consequence of the considerations is the second part of the book, devoted to the methods of economic valuation of public spaces. Awareness of the economic value of public spaces is a basic condition for effective management. Hence, in the third part, the reader will find business models for effective management of public spaces, presented in detail and illustrated with case studies.

Safe Assets in the International Financial System

Safe assets w międzynarodowym systemie finansowym. Problemy kreacji i perspektywy

Author(s): Joanna Bogołębska,Ewa Feder-Sempach,Ewa Stawasz-Grabowska / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: safe assets;public debt;safe assets supply;shortage of safe assets

The monograph is the first study on the Polish market devoted to the functioning of safe assets in the international financial system. The concept of safe assets is more and more commonly used in relation to phenomena occurring in financial markets, including debt markets. However, no attempt has been made so far to comprehensively explain its complex, multi-layered nature.The authors of the monograph make a pioneering effort to explain the concept of the safe asset by indicating the attributes and functions of these financial instruments/ this category of financial instruments. In particular, two scientific perspectives are taken: demand and supply analysis. The supply analysis, which constitutes a larger part of the monograph, emphasizes the dominant role of publicly issued safe assets in relation to privately issued ones. The demand side analysis depicts the main holders of safe assets and significant changes in their motives and trends.The global public safe assets shortage and the growing demand for this category of assets pose one of the greatest challenges to the stability of the global economy, raising the question of alternative sources of meeting investors’ demand for safety. In this context, the monograph draws particular attention to the capabilities of the Economic and Monetary Union and China as potential safe assets suppliers.The book aims at graduate and PhD students of Economics who have little previous knowledge of the subject and financial market professional analysts who are wishing to move into this cutting-edge topic.

Manufactura Hispánica Lodziense 14. Adverbial expressions of positive superlative quantification in the form of prepositional phrases. Semantic-syntactic study related to European Spanish

Manufactura Hispánica Lodziense 14. Locuciones adverbiales de cuantificación superlativa positiva en forma de frases preposicionales. Estudio semántico-sintáctico relativo al español europeo

Author(s): Monika Lisowska / Language(s): Spanish

Keywords: phrases;semantics;syntax;quantification

The present monograph focuses on the semantics and syntax of Spanish adverbial phrases introduced by prepositions and used as quantifiers in the positive superlative form. In the book such phrases are labelled as LACSP-FP, which is an acronym of their name in Spanish. The book consists of four chapters. The first three chapters introduce and clarify the issues that are vital for the subject matter of the book and the subsequent analysis of the studied phrases.Thus chapter one focuses on the notion ‘phrase’ in Spanish linguistics, introduces its definitions and classifications of quantifying phrases. It presents their formal characteristics as well as their syntactic and semantics features. Chapter two discusses formal, syntactic and semantic features of both the adverb and adverbial phrases in Spanish. Chapter three is devoted to the phenomenon of quantification and juxtaposes ‘linguistic quantification’ with other synonymous terms; It also presents various types of quantification according to morphological, semantic, syntactic features as well as the quantitative reference model. Chapter four focuses on the analysis of one hundred and twenty-seven LACSP-FPs excerpted from six dictionaries of contemporary Spanish. The analysis is twofold. First, lexical and semantic features of the studied expressions are analysed form a cognitive perspective and then analysis of their syntactic features follows.

Moving between Modes. Papers in Intersemiotic Translation in Memoriam Professor Alina Kwiatkowska

Moving between Modes. Papers in Intersemiotic Translation in Memoriam Professor Alina Kwiatkowska

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Keywords: Media Transformation;Intersemiosis;Chmura, Intersemiotic Translation;Multimodal Texts;Film Adaptations;Performance;Non-Verbal Communication

Professor Alina Kwiatkowska’s untimely departure prevented her from seeing this publication project through to the end. This book is dedicated to her memory and it is only suitable to have the volume summarised in Professor Kwiatkowska’s own words, coming from a draft of the former editor’s introductory chapter:“The present collection of papers was inspired by the international conference on lntersemiotic Translation held at the University of Łódź in 2013. Organized by the Institute of English Studies, it brought together many enthusiastic participants, who gathered to discuss the issues that many traditional scholars would consider to be niche and rather exotic. The volume includes a selection of papers from that conference, complemented by same additional contributions.”

Woman - a space of conflict and a battlefield. Essays on political anthropology

Kobieta – przestrzeń konfliktu, pole walk. Szkice z antropologii politycznej

Author(s): Inga B. Kuźma,Edyta B. Pietrzak / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Herstory; politics of memory; counter-memory; feminism; political anthropology

The book is a result of work in projects in the fields of civic education, herstory and politics of remembrance, dedicated to the participation of women in armed conflicts and the issue of commemoration and the political use of their symbolic potential. Herstory is about working with minority memory, with stories that are 'not told', it is about working with the multiplicity of narratives that review themselves. That is why herstorical thinking is flexible and allows for the use of art or animation activities that help to bring out what is silenced. The authors try to fit into the methodological framework of hermeneutic reflection, where it is only in dialogue that silence and the inability to give form to what has hitherto been silenced is revealed. They refer to memoirs, autobiographical and biographical statements, testimonies, political texts, legal texts or "secular hagiographies" created from the bottom up. Their field of interest also includes social processes and collective memory and forms of social mentality. They draw on the resources of a political anthropology interested in collective identities, cultural narratives, the meaning and interpretation of symbols, constructing metaphors, images and topos. They are guided by the idea that memory is political, and that how we think about it, speak about it and create it, is a political issue, manifested in the cultural texts and practices of which herstory is an example, and which constitute the mobilizing legitimation of collective visions of community.

The Aesthetics of Agency in Video Games

Estetyka sprawczości w grach wideo

Author(s): Marcin M. Chojnacki / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: agency; aesthetics; video games; interactivity; user experience

The aim of this book is to indicate and characterize the relationship between the phenomenon of agency and the aesthetics of the video game medium. The author analyzes the properties of interactive texts that allow their users to feel the pleasure of influencing the virtual spaces or the course of events taking place within them. Therefore, the book has been divided into two parts: theoretical, which organizes the existing definitions and types of agency typical for video games, and analytical, that presents a layered model of agency. Author presents four levels that organize player experience: simulation, narration, rules, and meta-agency, which gathers numerous activities beyond gameplay. The following chapters explore issues such as: reception and transformation of the gameplay aesthetics, user experience and emotions, differentiation of player’s agency, interface functions, agency mechanics, and agential dissonance. The book also contains extensive analyzes of three high-budget mainstream games: “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” (Nintendo, 2017), “Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” (CD Projekt RED, 2015) with “Blood and wine” expansion (CD Projekt RED, 2016) and “Grand Theft Auto V” (RockStar Games, 2013).