White Eagle, Black Madonna

White Eagle, Black Madonna PDF Author: Robert E. Alvis
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
ISBN: 0823271722
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description
In 1944, the Nazis razed Warsaw’s historic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. “They knew that the strength of the Polish nation was rooted in the Cross, Christ’s Passion, the spirit of the Gospels, and the invincible Church,” argued Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński in a letter celebrating the building’s subsequent reconstruction. “To weaken and destroy the nation, they knew they must first deprive it of its Christian spirit.” Wyszynski insisted that Catholicism was an integral component of Polish history, culture, and national identity. The faithfulness of the Polish people fortified them during times of trial and inspired much that was noble and good in their endeavors. Filling a sizable gap in the literature, White Eagle, Black Madonna is a systematic study of the Catholic Church in Poland and among the Polish diaspora. Polish Catholicism has not been particularly well understood outside of Poland, and certainly not in the Anglophone world, until now. Demonstrating an unparalleled mastery of the topic, Robert E. Alvis offers an illuminating vantage point on the dynamic tension between centralization and diversity that long has characterized the Catholic Church’s history. Written in clear, concise, accessible language, the book sheds light on the relevance of the Polish Catholic tradition for the global Catholic Church, a phenomenon that has been greatly enhanced by Pope John Paul II, whose theology, ecclesiology, and piety were shaped profoundly by his experiences in Poland, and those experiences in turn shaped the course of his long and influential pontificate. Offering a new resource for understanding the historical development of Polish Catholicism, White Eagle, Black Madonna emphasizes the people, places, events, and ritual actions that have animated the tradition and that still resonate among Polish Catholics today. From the baptism of Duke Mieszko in 966 to the controversial burial of President Lech Kaczyński in 2010, the Church has accompanied the Polish people during their long and often tumultuous history. While often controversial, Catholicism’s influence over Poland’s political, social, and cultural life has been indisputably profound.

White Eagle, Black Madonna

White Eagle, Black Madonna PDF Author: Robert E. Alvis
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
ISBN: 0823271722
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 378

Get Book Here

Book Description
In 1944, the Nazis razed Warsaw’s historic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. “They knew that the strength of the Polish nation was rooted in the Cross, Christ’s Passion, the spirit of the Gospels, and the invincible Church,” argued Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński in a letter celebrating the building’s subsequent reconstruction. “To weaken and destroy the nation, they knew they must first deprive it of its Christian spirit.” Wyszynski insisted that Catholicism was an integral component of Polish history, culture, and national identity. The faithfulness of the Polish people fortified them during times of trial and inspired much that was noble and good in their endeavors. Filling a sizable gap in the literature, White Eagle, Black Madonna is a systematic study of the Catholic Church in Poland and among the Polish diaspora. Polish Catholicism has not been particularly well understood outside of Poland, and certainly not in the Anglophone world, until now. Demonstrating an unparalleled mastery of the topic, Robert E. Alvis offers an illuminating vantage point on the dynamic tension between centralization and diversity that long has characterized the Catholic Church’s history. Written in clear, concise, accessible language, the book sheds light on the relevance of the Polish Catholic tradition for the global Catholic Church, a phenomenon that has been greatly enhanced by Pope John Paul II, whose theology, ecclesiology, and piety were shaped profoundly by his experiences in Poland, and those experiences in turn shaped the course of his long and influential pontificate. Offering a new resource for understanding the historical development of Polish Catholicism, White Eagle, Black Madonna emphasizes the people, places, events, and ritual actions that have animated the tradition and that still resonate among Polish Catholics today. From the baptism of Duke Mieszko in 966 to the controversial burial of President Lech Kaczyński in 2010, the Church has accompanied the Polish people during their long and often tumultuous history. While often controversial, Catholicism’s influence over Poland’s political, social, and cultural life has been indisputably profound.

The Crosses of Auschwitz

The Crosses of Auschwitz PDF Author: Geneviève Zubrzycki
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226993051
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
In the summer and fall of 1998, ultranationalist Polish Catholics erected hundreds of crosses outside Auschwitz, setting off a fierce debate that pitted Catholics and Jews against one another. While this controversy had ramifications that extended well beyond Poland’s borders, Geneviève Zubrzycki sees it as a particularly crucial moment in the development of post-Communist Poland’s statehood and its changing relationship to Catholicism. In The Crosses of Auschwitz, Zubrzycki skillfully demonstrates how this episode crystallized latent social conflicts regarding the significance of Catholicism in defining “Polishness” and the role of anti-Semitism in the construction of a new Polish identity. Since the fall of Communism, the binding that has held Polish identity and Catholicism together has begun to erode, creating unease among ultranationalists. Within their construction of Polish identity also exists pride in the Polish people’s long history of suffering. For the ultranationalists, then, the crosses at Auschwitz were not only symbols of their ethno-Catholic vision, but also an attempt to lay claim to what they perceived was a Jewish monopoly over martyrdom. This gripping account of the emotional and aesthetic aspects of the scene of the crosses at Auschwitz offers profound insights into what Polishness is today and what it may become.

Cross Purposes

Cross Purposes PDF Author: Magdalena Waligórska
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009230956
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 389

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Book Description
No other symbol is as omnipresent in Poland as the cross. This multilayered and contradictory icon features prominently in public spaces and state institutions. It is anchored in the country's visual history, inspires protest culture, and dominates urban and rural landscapes. The cross recalls Poland's historic struggles for independence and anti-Communist dissent, but it also encapsulates the country's current position in Europe as a self-avowed bulwark of Christianity and a champion of conservative values. It is both a national symbol - defining the boundaries of Polishness in opposition to a changing constellation of the country's Others - and a key object of contestation in the creative arts and political culture. Despite its long history, the cross has never been systematically studied as a political symbol in its capacity to mobilize for action and solidify power structures. Cross Purposes is the first cultural history of the cross in modern Poland, deconstructing this key symbol and exploring how it has been deployed in different political battles.

Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements

Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements PDF Author: Doug McAdam
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521485166
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 450

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Book Description
Social movements such as environmentalism, feminism, nationalism, and the anti-immigration movement are a prominent feature of the modern world and have attracted increasing attention from scholars in many countries. Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements, first published in 1996, brings together a set of essays that focus upon mobilization structures and strategies, political opportunities, and cultural framing and ideologies. The essays are comparative and include studies of the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe, the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany. Their authors are amongst the leaders in the development of social movement theory and the empirical study of social movements.

Sacred Weapons, Profane Enemies: Saint John Paul II's War on Communism

Sacred Weapons, Profane Enemies: Saint John Paul II's War on Communism PDF Author: Geoff Bardell
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1291744436
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
The 2014 canonization of John Paul II and the quarter-century anniversary of the fall of Polish Communism were the main motivations in writing this book, which is richly illustrated with nearly 100 pictures and very reasonably priced! The book tells the story of how Saint John Paul II politically deployed sacred weapons and profane enemies in his war on communism. The effects of his deployment - chiefly during his three pilgrimages to communist Poland - were to evoke and refashion nationalist and religious cultural memories shaped over centuries and thereby influence the prevailing political culture of opposition. In his doing so, the Polish Pope inspired the opposition to peacefully and successfully challenge a communist regime that had at its disposal a full panoply of repressive forces.

Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power

Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power PDF Author: Jan Kubik
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271042133
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description


The Black Madonna in Latin America and Europe

The Black Madonna in Latin America and Europe PDF Author: Małgorzata Oleszkiewicz-Peralba
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
A cultural icon, the Black Madonna is a blend of the Virgin Mary and ancient mother-goddesses from Eurasian, Native American and African cultures. This work examines the dark mother archetype and explores the Black Madonna's functions in the varied cultures of Poland, Mexico and the American southwest, Brazil, and Cuba.

Black Sea

Black Sea PDF Author: Neal Ascherson
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780809015931
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
The author demonstrates, through the history of the Black Sea area and the disputed regions of Russia, Turkey, Romania, Greece, and Caucasus, that "the meanings of 'community, ' 'nationhood, ' and 'cultural independence' are both fierce and disturbingly uncertain."

The Shrine of the Black Madonna at Częstochowa

The Shrine of the Black Madonna at Częstochowa PDF Author: Janusz St Pasierb
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Christian art and symbolism
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description


Christianity and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Europe

Christianity and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Europe PDF Author: John Carter Wood
Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
ISBN: 3647101494
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
This collection explores how Christian individuals and institutions – whether Churches, church-related organisations, clergy, or lay thinkers – combined the topics of faith and national identity in twentieth-century Europe. "National identity" is understood in a broad sense that includes discourses of citizenship, narratives of cultural or linguistic belonging, or attributions of distinct, "national" characteristics. The collection addresses Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox perspectives, considers various geographical contexts, and takes into account processes of cross-national exchange and transfer. It shows how national and denominational identities were often mutually constitutive, at times leading to a strongly exclusionary stance against "other" national or religious groups. In different circumstances, religiously minded thinkers critiqued nationalism, emphasising the universalist strains of their faith, with varying degrees of success. Moreover, throughout the century, and especially since 1945, both church officials and lay Christians have had to come to terms with the relationship between their national and "European" identities and have sought to position themselves within the processes of Europeanisation. Various contexts for the negotiation of faith and nation are addressed: media debates, domestic and international political arenas, inner-denominational and ecumenical movements, church organisations, cosmopolitan intellectual networks and the ideas of individual thinkers.