Religious Symbols in Polish Underground Art and Poetry of the 1980s, in: Behrends J.C. and Lindenberger T. (eds.) (2014) Underground Publishing and the Public Sphere

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction

Underground Publishing and the Public Sphere: SomeIntroductory Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Jan Claas BEHRENDS, Thomas LINDENBERGER

Peripheries of the Russian Empire

“Approved by the Censor”: Tsarist Censorship and thePublic Sphere in Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Poland(1860-1914) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Malte ROLF

Repressive Censorship, Underground Publishing, and theDistribution of Lithuanian Books in the Northwest Regionof the Russian Empire (1795-1904) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Arvydas PACEVICIUS, Aušra NAVICKIENE

Samizdat in the Soviet Union

Arcane and Public Spheres in the Soviet Union . . . . . . . . . 99Dietrich BEYRAU

Forging National and Transnational Ties: UndergroundPublication in Estonia under Soviet Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Aile MÖLDRE

Imagining the Russian Nation: The Story of Antisemitism inSoviet Samizdat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Julie DRASKOCZY

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Inhaltsverzeichnis

Central Europe under Totalitarian Rule

Religious Symbols in Polish Underground Art and Poetry ofthe 1980s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189Anna NIEDZWIEDZ

Dissident Voices: Searching for Traces of Romanian Samizdat . 213Stefana LAMASANU

The Concept of Europe between the Underground and theOfficial Public Sphere: Narratives and Self-perceptions inCentral Europe during Communism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235Christian DOMNITZ

Transnational and Global Perspectives

Forbidden Fruit: Smuggling and Publishing across Bordersin Ancien Régime France and Cold War Eastern Europe . . . . 257Jessie LABOV, Friederike KIND-KOVÁCS

China’s Neibu Publishing: The Art of Limiting PublicSpheres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289Lorenz BICHLER

Written Contraband: The Jewish Resistance Press during theMilitary Dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983) . . . . . . . . 309Ricardo FEIERSTEIN, Liliana Ruth FEIERSTEIN

Appendix

A Select Bibliography by Jan C. Behrends. . . . . . . . . . . . 335

List of Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

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Religious Symbols in Polish Underground Art andPoetry of the 1980s

Anna NIEDZWIEDZ

Independent, underground poetry and art, which appeared in Poland in the1980s and was mostly connected with the Solidarity Movement and broaderopposition to the communist dictatorship, can be interpreted as a social reac-tion to repression. The “Solidarity Decade” can be divided into four periods:1980-81, the birth and growth of the Solidarity Movement; 1981-83, Mar-tial Law; 1983-89, the post-Martial-Law period; and 1989-90, the beginningof the Third Republic and the transition toward a civil society in Poland andother post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe.1 The grow-ing popularity of underground poetry and art was connected especially withthe Martial Law period. The illegal production and circulation of printed ma-terials created an independent, unofficial code of resistance associated with asecret network among people that was created in reaction to the repressiveregime. This underground world functioned as an unofficial “alternative pub-lic sphere” and as coded comment (“alternative public opinion”) on reality.Those who were able to read, decode, and use the symbolic language presentin the unofficial production of the 1980s were seen as members of a specialemotional and moral community which felt united by the ideas manifested inAugust 1980 during the strike in the Gdansk shipyard.2

1 See Norman Davies, God’s Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes, vol. 2 (Oxford,New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 482-508.

2 This strike led to the legal registration of the “Independent, Self-governing Labor Union‘Solidarity’,” an independent trade union federation, which was legal until 13 December1981 (the implementation of Martial Law). During the first months of its activity, Solidar-ity turned out to be much more than a “trade union”: “It became a social movement, a coun-trywide mutual aid society” (Davies, God’s Playground , 485). However, the immense socialinfluence and popularity the Solidarity movement gained at the beginning of the 1980swould not have been possible without earlier developments in the Polish anti-communistmovement. For the trajectory of Polish anti-communist opposition in the pre-Solidarity

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The phenomenon of underground poetry and art of the 1980s can be in-terpreted on different levels and from different perspectives. As a cultural an-thropologist, I will focus on the symbolic level, showing how certain symbolswere used to represent the resistance toward the regime. One of the aims ofanthropological interpretation is to search for ideas and recurrent images thatcreate the mythical world of a given community. The anonymous literatureand independent, underground art created at the period of social “liminality”and suppression in Poland is a highly significant case of national mythology.3 Itdoes not primarily reveal artistic values, but rather the deeply rooted, subcon-scious cultural structures of that society. As Maria Janion has pointed out, “Indecisive historical moments of national life, conditions that stimulate innova-tive artistic work are a rarity. Literature rather refers to ideas, concepts, formsthat have already been worked out and developed, ones already consecrated.During such times, the means for social understanding become stereotypes;art is – like probably never before – inclined to use clichés.”4

These words, addressing literature, also apply to other art forms as well asto the collective imagination and collective taste. The obviousness, simplicity,and vulgarization of allegory in independent artworks of the 1980s were a re-flection of the time and situation in which the works were created. Dominik K.

period, see, e.g., Andrzej Friszke, Opozycja polityczna w PRL 1945-1980 [Political Opposi-tion in the Polish People’s Republic 1945-1980] (London: “ANEKS”, 1994).

3 With the term “liminal,” I am recalling an anthropological terminology introduced byArnold van Gennep and later developed and problematized by Victor Turner. “Liminality”is defined as a characteristic of the state “betwixt and between” in private and communal“rites of passage” as well as during various social transitional (threshold) situations thatbring about radical changes in the social structure. The period of “liminality” is understoodas an “interstructural situation,” a period in which one stable structure stops functioningand a new one is still not yet established. In this perspective, the 1980s in Poland can beseen as a permanent “liminal” phase with subsequent “transitional periods” following oneanother and not developing into a new stable and socially accepted structure. See Arnoldvan Gennep, The Rites of Passage (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1960); Victor Turner,The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual (Ithaca, NY, London: Cornell UniversityPress, 1967), 93-111. See also Victor Turner, From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousnessof Play (New York: Performing Arts Journal Publications, 1982).

4 Maria Janion, Czas formy otwartej: Tematy i media romantyczne [The Open-Form Time:Romantic Topics and Media] (Warsaw: PIW, 1984), 134.

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Łuszczek offers an excellent analysis of the paintings and graphic works of thisperiod: “The didacticism of art, pushy and mass in character, the assemblage ofsymbols, of national and religious signs, resulted in fairly disconcerting artisticeffects, trivializing the highest aims, even if the inspiration is something holyand honorable.”5 This is not an evaluation of the aesthetic value of the worksdiscussed.6 From a historical point of view, their specific value goes beyondtheir artistic qualities. I propose to analyze underground creativity as a reflec-tion of a social experience and a spontaneous expression of society in times oftransition and repression.

In Polish independent art and poetry from the 1980s, mostly generated,or at least strongly influenced by the Solidarity Movement, one of the mostimportant symbolic codes was connected with religion. In my discussion ofselected artworks, I aim to show the historical, social, and cultural contextsthat led to the incorporation of religious symbols into the underground artand literature of the 1980s.

Undoubtedly, the position of the Catholic Church on political and so-cial issues in postwar communist Poland was crucial. During this time, theCatholic Church was strongly involved in the political confrontation with theCommunist Party. Relations between the Church and the state (i.e., the party)oscillated between negotiation attempts and open confrontation.7 But in the

5 Dominik Krzysztof Łuszczek, Inspiracje religijne w polskim malarstwie i grafice 1981-1991[Religious Inspirations in Polish Painting and Graphic Arts 1981-1991] (Warsaw, Czesto-chowa: Społeczny Komitet im. O.D. Łuszczka, Probusiness, 1998), 41.

6 The visual form of communist propaganda and the visual art of the socialist regime werealso dominated by simplistic as well as monumental and kitschy forms. Therefore, oppo-sitional art can be interpreted as operating within these frames of a common aesthetic. Iwould like to thank Jan C. Behrends for suggesting this aspect of underground creativity.

7 For relations between the state (party) and the Catholic Church in postwar and communistPoland, see, e.g., Antoni Dudek, Panstwo i Kosciół w Polsce 1945-1970 [State and Churchin Poland 1945-1970] (Cracow: Wydawnictwo PiT, 1995). For an analysis of relationsbetween the Church, the state, and the opposition in communist Poland, see Hanna Sidkin,The Seeds of Triumph: Church and State in Gomułka’s Poland (Budapest, New York: CentralEuropean University Press, 2001). See also José Casanova, Public Religion in the ModernWorld (Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press, 1994), 94-107. For a detailedanalysis of the situation of the Jasna Góra shrine and the role it played in the confrontationbetween the state and the Church between 1950 and 1956, see Damien Thiriet, Marks

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eyes of a significant part of Polish society, the Church was an institution op-posing the regime. This conviction was especially strong during Martial Law,when the clear stance of the Catholic bishops as well as of Pope John PaulII, who openly criticized the implementation of Martial Law, strengthenedthe position of the Catholic Church in Polish society. As José Casanova haspointed out, “never had the churches in Poland, already full under normalconditions, been so crowded as in the martial law period.”8 Additionally, dur-ing Martial Law and the post-Martial Law period, churches, cloisters, andparish houses were almost the only public spaces where independent opinionscould be voiced. Many artists – even those religiously indifferent – could or-ganize their exhibitions and perform their music or theater shows in churchesand parish halls. Of course this was not possible in official venues that weresubject to the censorship of the communist party. Exhibitions and other artis-tic events organized by church institutions were often authentic reflectionsof social moods in which religious elements coincided with patriotic ones.The characteristics of this phenomenon reveal its popularity and its involve-ment in current affairs: “Such a mass movement appeared for the first timein twentieth-century Polish art. It arose on a great scale and spontaneously.It also carried the stamp of a philosophical-ideological-artistic declaration, be-ing accepted by both society and the Church.”9 The use of sacred symbols inunderground poetry and literature as well as in Solidarity leaflets and on ban-ners that appeared at illegal demonstrations was common. Symbolic religious-patriotic language had proven to be a powerful means of resistance duringthe August 1980 strike in the Gdansk shipyard.10 After December 1981 this

czy Maryja? Komunisci i Jasna Góra w apogeum stalinizmu (1950-1956) [Marx or Mary?Communists and Jasna Góra during High Stalinism (1950-1956)] (Warsaw: WydawnictwoTRIO].

8 Casanova, Public Religion, 107-108. For the information on the official stance of the PolishEpiscopate as well as on a letter submitted by Pope John Paul II after the implementationof Martial Law in Poland, see Andrzej Paczkowski, Droga do “mniejszego zła”: Strategia itaktyka obozu władzy lipiec 1980–styczen 1982 [The Path to the “Lesser Evil”: Strategy andTactics of the Authority Camp July 1980–January 1982] (Krakow: Wydawnictwo Liter-ackie, 2002), 296-297.

9 Łuszczek, Inspiracje religijne, 25.10 Jan Kubik, The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power: The Rise of Solidarity and the

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religious-national symbiosis developed even further. It moreover tied in witha historical tradition of Polish culture to use sacred images and symbols inpolitical and national contexts. This was especially the case in the nineteenthcentury, when Poland was partitioned and the Romantic national philosophydeveloped.11 The historian Tadeusz Łepkowski claims:

Many of the nineteenth century’s patriotic songs are religious-patriotic songs, and itis difficult to say whether they are more patriotic or more religious. Sometimes itis impossible to distinguish between what is religious and what is patriotic . . . Onemay ask whether it is veneration and assembly of people in collective religious ecstasyor equally a nationalistic and political manifestation. And what, for example, of thesad but lofty national institution that is the funeral of martyrs for the homeland,or of individuals meritorious for it and for the Church? Were not those rituals alsoreligious?12

In this description analyzing the “social-psychological” current of Church his-tory, one can easily detect the Romantic tradition revived in the symbolicculture of the 1980s.13 The situation of the 1980s can be regarded as a re-sumption of the living structures of the nineteenth century, in which the re-ligious (Catholic) symbolism and ritualism was incorporated into a conceptand a practice of national resistance.14 The demonstrations of “Solidarity,”starting from a holy mass “for the motherland,” the marches that set outfrom churches, the emblems in which religious and national symbols fused,

Fall of State Socialism in Poland (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press1994), 185-190.

11 Kristi S. Evans, “The Argument of Images: Historical Representation in Solidarity Under-ground Postage, 1981-87,” American Ethnologist 19 (1992): 749-767, 757.

12 Tadeusz Łepkowski, “O katolicyzmie i kulcie maryjnym w społeczenstwie polskim XIXstulecia (Artykuł dyskusyjny)” [On the Catholicism and Cult of Our Lady in Polish Societyin the Nineteenth Century (Discussion Article)], Studia Claromontana 7 (1987): 40-49, 45.

13 In his analysis of the strike in the Gdansk shipyard in August 1980, Jan Kubik discusses theRomantic roots of “shipyard culture.” See Kubik, The Power of Symbols, 190-194.

14 On the nineteenth-century role of Catholicism during the periods of partition and thedevelopment of the concept of the “Pole-Catholic,” see Andrzej Chwalba, Historia Pol-ski 1795-1918 [History of Poland 1795-1918] (Krakow: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2000),160-162. For an analysis of messianic concepts, see Brian Porter, “The Kingdom Come:Patriotism, Prophecy, and the Catholic Hierarchy in Nineteenth-Century Poland,” TheCatholic Historical Review 89 (2003): 213-239.

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and finally the “institution of burials” such as the funeral of Cardinal StefanWyszynski (1981) and Father Jerzy Popiełuszko (1984),15 were a collective rep-etition of the emotional and symbolic situation that had developed during thetimes of partition. In the 1980s the sphere connected with patriotism, free-dom, and Polish independence was expressed, similarly as in the previous cen-tury, using sacral images and tokens. The language of religion was employedas a metaphor of Polish history and a comment on the contemporary politicalsituation. Danuta Dabrowska, who analyzed different codes of Polish under-ground poetry from the 1980s, commented on the strength of religious lan-guage during this period: “There were different codes used by authors duringthe Martial Law period in [underground] poetry. But the religious code wasthe most expressive. It was used to define very clearly the national-solidaritycommunity. The opposition toward the official rules, which were connectedwith a materialistic and atheistic ideology, could have been expressed easily bybuilding an alternative value system based on the Christian religion, which hasa one-thousand-year tradition in Poland.”16

Catholicism in popular discourse was tied to ideas of democracy and Eu-ropean civilization. It stood in opposition to the concept of the “East” as aSoviet sphere. This vision has its roots not only in Polish Romanticism, butalso in the Polish Baroque period with its notion of antemurale christianitatis(“Bulwark of Christendom”), i.e., the Polish mission to defend the Occidentagainst invaders from the East. This concept was revived during the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919-21, which was seen not only as a war protecting thenewly restored Polish Republic, but also as a war protecting Western, i.e.,Christian Europe from the “red menace.”17 The presence and popularity of

15 Father Jerzy Popiełuszko was killed in 1984 by security forces because of his political in-volvement in and support of the Solidarity Movement. His funeral turned into a hugereligious-national manifestation. In 2010 Father Popiełuszko was beatified by the CatholicChurch.

16 Danuta Dabrowska, Okolicznosciowa poezja polityczna w Polsce w latach 1980-1990 [Oc-casional Political Poetry in Poland, 1980-1990] (Szczecin: Wyd. Naukowe UniwersytetuSzczecinskiego, 1998), 124.

17 The mythical and symbolic dimension of the war is clearly visible in the popular and re-ligious interpretation of the Battle of Warsaw (1920). This battle, crucial for the outcomeof the whole war, has been named the “Miracle on the Vistula,” and has been religiously

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this mythological, polarized vision of the world in independent works of the1980s demonstrates the power of symbols and myths, which were used in thesetimes of social instability and turmoil in Poland to explain and make sense ofthe perilous world.

Exploring the power of symbols and myths in independent creative formsof the 1980s in Poland, I focus on both literary and iconographic documen-tation to show that religious and national symbolism appeared on two levels(linguistic and visual) and that these two levels complemented each other. Bothplayed an important role in public – albeit illegal – rituals. This included thetexts of songs, poems, and slogans as well as visual metaphors incorporatingreligious-national symbols that appeared in processions and services, politicalmanifestations, illegally held meetings, rallies, concerts, exhibitions, and thelike. The “alternative public sphere” was very strongly based on these symbols.

Analyzing the illegal creativity of the period 1980-90, it is important todistinguish between the most important features of this phenomenon. Theterm “transitory occasional political poetry” derives from Polish literary re-search.18 The basic criterion distinguishing this creative form relates to theways in which it functioned in social circulation. Visual art of the 1980s alsoexhibited some features of transitory occasional political poetry. Its basic fea-tures include immediateness and elusiveness, since this creative form appearedas a reaction to actual events and expressed collective experiences. It was alsodominated by political content and propaganda, and it used an easily under-standable semantic code based on a collective system of symbols and myths.Another important feature was its unofficial character, which often stood indirect opposition to the officially promoted cultural style. Usually the authoror artist remained anonymous, and in case he or she was known, this fact wasnot very significant. Finally, transitory occasional political poetry and unoffi-

interpreted in relation to the cult of the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa. See AnnaNiedzwiedz, The Image and the Figure: Our Lady of Czestochowa in Polish Culture and Pop-ular Religion (Krakow: Jagiellonian University Press, 2010), 112.

18 This term was introduced by Danuta Dabrowska. I also accept her dating of the phe-nomenon and the conclusion that works connected with the August 1980 events, MartialLaw, and the period up to 1990 share significant common features which allow for them tobe described by a single, common term. See Dabrowska, Okolicznosciowa poezja polityczna,7-29.

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cial art extensively used popular forms and patterns, updating and adaptingthem for the interpretation of current events.

According to some Polish cultural anthropologists, these features can beunderstood in terms of the creative output of folklore in the broad sense of theterm. In this sense, folklore is understood as an alternative creativity opposedto the official, dominant, elite group. Its functional feature serves to unite thealternative community and distinguish it from official culture.19 Other fea-tures of folklore recall the mentioned characteristics of underground creativity.Hence, the unofficial creativity of the 1980s has also been defined as “folkloreof contestation” or “political folklore.”20

These terms emphasize the social context of underground creativity.Songs, poems, and artworks were not only created unofficially, they were alsoillegally distributed. As mentioned, exhibitions, concerts, and performanceswere often organized in churches or cloisters, and illegal political manifesta-tions and meetings were held in private homes. This created a special spacein which ritualistic aspects were very important. On the other hand, an infor-mal network for the distribution of leaflets and other materials was created,giving the involved individuals a feeling of solidarity based on shared values.These emotions were particularly strong during Martial Law, when a signif-icant part of the illegal creativity was produced by imprisoned Solidarity ac-tivists and smuggled out of the internment camps. The shared value systemwas expressed by the common use of symbols, among which religious oneswere the most important.21

19 Aleksander Jackowski, “Folklor kontestacji” [Folklore of Contestation], Polska Sztuka Lu-dowa – Konteksty, 44:2 (1990): 11-14, 11.

20 It is important to note that here I am using the term “folklore” as a category describing non-elite and unofficial elements of culture, not as a category relating strictly to traditional folkculture. For concepts of “folklore of contestation” and “political folklore,” see Jackowski,“Folklor”; Wojciech Łysiak, “Oblicza folkloru – folklor polityczny” [Faces of Folklore –Political Folklore] Polska Sztuka Ludowa – Konteksty, 44:2 (1990): 15-16. For an analysis ofpolitical folklore in the context of social behaviors during the strike in the Gdansk shipyard,see Czesław Robotycki, “Sztuka à vista: Folklor strajkowy” [Art à Vista: The Strike Folklore]Polska Sztuka Ludowa – Konteksty, 44:2 (1990): 44-49, 44.

21 The second characteristic feature of this creative form was connected with a code of humorcontaining coarse jokes and burlesque. It is very significant and characteristic for a spon-

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The religious code was visible on different levels, and it is easily recogniz-able in the examples of occasional political poetry. The inclusion of religioussymbols, but also the adaptation of church genres such as prayers, litanies, orthe combination of new texts with melodies of traditional religious songs, re-veal the multilayered nature of this code. As Martial Law was introduced on13 December 1981 – less than two weeks before Christmas – immediatelyand spontaneously old Polish Christmas carols, which are very popular amongPoles and which create the special ambience of Polish Christmas traditions,were rewritten to comment on current events. In one of the prisons, one ofthe most popular old Polish carols, “Bóg sie rodzi” (God is Born), got newlyrics:

Jesus, console the crying nation, sow in all hearts a grain of truth,Give strength to those who fight, bless Solidarity.Give perseverance to all imprisoned, watch over their families,As the word becomes a body and lives with us.22

The texts of these “carols” as well as other political art soon became well knownoutside the prison walls. Rewritten copies of texts and poems circulated amongpeople and appeared in underground publications and on recorded cassettes,which were smuggled out of the prisons. It was a matter of practicality, es-pecially for the imprisoned, that the lyrics and the melodies could easily bememorized and thus spread quickly. In this sense, a significant part of the “po-litical folklore” of the 1980s was created and functioned like typical traditionalfolklore based strongly on oral traditions and the oral transmission of culture.

taneous social reaction toward violence to juxtapose pathetic, national-religious codes withhumor.

22 Quoted in Dabrowska, Okolicznosciowa poezja polityczna, 129. This anonymous carol wassung in December 1981 in a prison in Wislicz and was called “Carol of the Interned.”It was also published underground as an anonymous work in Zapomnisz?. . . Polska Pieta[Do You Remember?. . . Polish Pieta], part 1 (Krakow: Biblioteka Obserwatora Wojennego,1984).The Polish version goes as follows: Koleda internowanych / Pociesz Jezu kraj płaczacy,zasiej w sercach prawdy ziarno / Siłe swoja daj walczacym, pobłogosław “Solidarnosc” /Wiezniom wszystkim daj wytrwanie, piecze miej nad rodzinami / A słowo ciałem sie stało imieszkało miedzy nami.

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Our Lady of Czestochowa in the visual artof the Martial Law Period

“Political folklore” used the most popular and easily recognizable symbols.One of the most widespread religious symbols appearing in Polish indepen-dent poetry and art of the 1980s was the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa.23

This image is the most famous and the most worshipped image of Our Ladyin Poland. In anthropological interpretations of Polish Catholic religiosity, theimage has been described using Eric R. Wolf ’s term “master symbol,” as itseems to “enshrine the major hopes and aspirations” of Poland.24 It inhabits avery important place in national Polish mythology. The Virgin Mary is reveredas the “Queen of Poland” and “defender of the Polish nation.”25 The image ofOur Lady of Czestochowa has been treated as a Polish national emblem. Dur-ing the communist period, the Catholic Church of Poland underscored thereligious-national symbiosis of Poland using the image of Our Lady of Czesto-chowa as a symbol of religious renewal and resistance against the regime. Thenational dimension of the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa becomes appar-ent in the 1956 “national vows” organized at Jasna Góra monastery and duringthe celebrations of the “Millennial Year” of Christianity in Poland announced

23 The image of Our Lady of Czestochowa is also known as the image of Our Lady of JasnaGóra. The first name recalls the city (Czestochowa), while the second name recalls the nameof the Pauline monastery (Jasna Góra [The Bright Mountain]) where the image has beenkept since 1382-1384.

24 Eric R. Wolf introduced the term “master symbol” in his analysis of the Mexican cult ofthe image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, showing how this religious symbol is a “collectiverepresentation” of Mexican society. See Eric R. Wolf, “The Virgin of Guadalupe: A MexicanNational Symbol,” The Journal of American Folklore 71 (1958): 34-39. For the analysis ofPolish Catholic religiosity and the cult of the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa as a “Polishmaster symbol,” see Cathelijne de Busser, Anna Niedzwiedz, “Mary in Poland: A PolishMaster Symbol,” in Moved by Mary: The Power of Pilgrimage in the Modern World , ed. Anna-Karina Hermkens, Willy Jansen, Catrien Notermans (Farnham, Berlington: Ashgate), 87-100.

25 Norman Davies, “Polish National Mythologies” Occasional Papers in Polish and Polish Amer-ican Studies, The Polish Studies Program, Central Connecticut State University 4 (1996): 5-12.On the role of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Polish national mythology, see also Niedzwiedz,The Image and the Figure.

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“Baptizing of Poland 966”, Solidarity Post underground stamps, images of prince Mieszko theFirst, Our Lady of Czestochowa and Pope John Paul II; from archive of Fundacja Centrum Doku-mentacji Czynu Niepodległosciowego, Kraków, Poland.

by the Polish Episcopate in 1966.26 Both celebrations not only had a strong re-ligious dimension, but were also strongly permeated with national and politicalterminology. Thus, the popularity of the image of Our Lady of Czestochowain underground iconography during Martial Law was by no means a coinci-dence. Like many emblems of the Martial Law period, the icon appeared as asymbol during the strike in Gdansk shipyard in August 1980. Gates leadingto the shipyard were decorated with flowers, national flags, portraits of JohnPaul II (who was seen in Poland primarily as the “Polish Pope”), and images of

26 In 1957, a copy of the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa was sent to visit all parishes inPoland in a newly introduced ritual called “the peregrination of the image.” Peregrinationappeared to be a very powerful ritual reinforcing the coexistence of the religious and na-tional symbolism of the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa. For a detailed analysis of theperegrination, see Niedzwiedz, The Image and the Figure.

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Our Lady. One copy of Our Lady of Czestochowa was even called “Our Ladyof the Strike.”27 And the famous small badge with the Madonna’s face wornby Solidarity leader Lech Wałesa on his jacket came to be a symbol intimatelyconnected with the movement’s imagery. During Martial Law, small copies of“Wałesa’s Our Lady” were produced and worn by people (very often they weretiny or hidden for fear of persecution).

The most strongly symbolic detail of the image of Our Lady of Czesto-chowa is the scars visible on her right cheek. The historical and artistic aspectsof the scars are connected with the medieval tradition of so-called “woundedpictures.”28 For centuries, this motif has been one of the most intriguing de-tails of Our Lady of Czestochowa in popular culture and religiosity, and it hasappeared in legends and stories. In the nineteenth century, with the emergenceof a Polish Romantic national philosophy, the scars visible on the face of Marywere symbolically connected with the suffering of the partitioned Polish na-tion. This Romantic religious-national code reappeared in Polish undergroundand independent poetry and art in the 1980s and developed in new ways.29

27 Grzegorz Boros, “Matka Boska Strajkowa,” [Our Lady of the Strike] Punkt. AlmanachGdanskich Srodowisk Twórczych, August 1981, 272.

28 Anna Rózycka-Bryzek, “Obraz Matki Boskiej Czestochowskiej: Pochodzenie i dzieje sred-niowieczne” [The Image of Our Lady of Czestochowa: Origin and History in the MiddleAges], Folia Historiae Artium 26 (1990): 14-15.

29 Discussing the issue of imagery, I have decided to take into consideration not only thesources connected with underground printing, but also with other independent activitiesof the 1980s. There is a very interesting art collection at the Jasna Góra monastery which isconnected with the so-called Jasna Góra “art workshops.” They were organized by Paulinemonks in September 1981 (before Martial Law) and in July 1982. Finally in December1982, a post-workshop was organized at Jasna Góra entitled “Painters in Homage of theJasna Góra Lady in the Jubilee Year of 600 Years of Her Presence.” The works displayedat the exhibition were inspired by the monastery authorities and were appropriate to thegiven subject matter. However, the historical and political context of the time, the specificcommunal atmosphere that existed during the workshops (even despite the non-religiousdeclarations of some of the artists) allow one to assume that the collection of pictures cre-ated during the first two Jasna Góra workshops were a reflection and an expression of thesocial ideas that dominated the collective imagination at this important historical moment,and were strongly shaped by independent artistic creativity. In the iconographic materialsprinted in the underground and from independent art, we can find similar ways the imageof Our Lady of Czestochowa was used in national contexts. I obtained the information

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The iconographic documentation of the 1980s shows that the scars fromthe image of Our Lady of Czestochowa developed into one of the most popu-lar symbols of the underground. The widespread use of this motif reveals thevitality of the symbol, its power as well as its significance in collective con-sciousness. The interweaving of meanings connected with the image of OurLady of Czestochowa, the scars on her face, and national suffering found itssimple and unequivocal expression in its spontaneous iconographic recreation.One anonymous leaflet that circulated underground, dated 1982 and signedNowa Huta (the name of an industrial district in Krakow where the SolidarityMovement was very strong), depicted the face of Our Lady of Czestochowabefore the background of a barred window. Moreover, the wounds on the faceof the Jasna Góra Madonna took on the shape of a 13, recalling the date (13December) when Martial Law was declared.30 Another typical iconographicexample from the Martial Law period is a work by Irena Snarska. The graphic,entitled “Our Lady,” shows the characteristic silhouette of the veil of Our Ladyof Czestochowa emerging from a black, as if cracked, background. However,the face of Mary is not visible. There are no eyes, lips, or nose. Only the clearlyvisible deep scars signal the presence of the person under the veil. Years later,the artist recalled the introduction of Martial Law and the specific situation inwhich this graphic work was created: “it was like a knife incision, like deliver-ing a deeply painful wound.”31

The most obvious graphic representation connecting the political situationin the country to the Madonna’s wounds was the combination of the silhou-ette of the scars with the colors white and red – the colors of the Polish flag. Inmany pictures and on various leaflets from the period, on a black backgroundclearly discernible as the silhouette of the Madonna, white and red scars aredisplayed. Depicting Mary’s wounds in the national colors epitomized the im-age of the Polish nation embodied in a community of suffering.

about the art workshops directly from one of its organizers: Father Jan Golonka, PhD, aPauline, who kindly allowed me to use his private archives documenting the events.

30 In some popular interpretations, the number 13 also symbolically recalls 13 May 1981 –the day of the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. In popular mythology, the two“13” dates are often evoked and collate together symbolically.

31 Quoted in Łuszczek, Inspiracje religijne, 69.

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Underground poster from 1982 with the face of Our Lady of Czestochowa withwounds shaped like the number 13 recalling December 13th, 1981 and introduc-tion of the Martial Law in Poland; from archive of Fundacja Centrum Dokumen-tacji Czynu Niepodległosciowego, Kraków, Poland.

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Besides the displaying of wounds on copies of the image of Our Lady ofCzestochowa or the styling of the wounds in the national colors, there werealso new iconographic ideas involving the symbol of the scars. In a painting byMaciej Bieniasz titled “Prayer (In Front of the Wujek Mine)”32 a sketch of thewounds of the Jasna Góra image are displayed “. . . on the hunched shouldersof the staggering figure of a worker. In a gesture of complaint, searching forsomething to soothe the pain, he returns with his suffering in the direction ofa woman standing with a child in her arms and a bundle in the other hand. Werecognize in her the Mary of the Jasna Góra archetype.”33 Zbylut Grzywacz’swork “Shade” recalls a similar iconographic pattern. Bloody welts (traces offlagellation?), which take the shape of the wounds from the Jasna Góra im-age are visible on a worker’s back. Opposite the worker stands the figure ofOur Lady of Czestochowa with the clearly discernible scars on her cheek. Thefigures of the worker and Mary turn to face each other, appearing to be onefigure duplicated by a mirror. On yet another picture from the Martial Lawperiod, only the scars of Our Lady of Czestochowa are displayed against a redbackground. Besides the clearly sketched scars, there is a crown carried by twoangels. The composition is entitled “Mater Dolorosa.”

These underground and independent artworks from the 1980s demon-strate that the characteristic contours of the wounds became a separate, inde-pendent symbol. In order to recognize its significance, it was no longer nec-essary to show the whole picture of Our Lady. There was no longer even theneed to depict the Madonna’s face. The sketch of the wounds appeared in newcontexts and different surroundings: on the national flag, on the back of a man(the Messiah, a worker, a Pole). It existed as if separated from the image itself,but it remained connected with it in the sense that the reference was easilyrecognizable.

32 The Wujek mine was one of the most highly symbolic places during Martial Law in Poland.At the beginning of Martial Law, security forces attacked striking miners there, killing nineand wounding twenty-one.

33 Dominik Krzysztof Łuszczek, “Jasnogórska Bogurodzica w ikonografii czasu nadziei: 1981-1985” [Our Lady of Jasna Góra in the Iconography of a Time of Hope: 1981-1985], JasnaGóra, February 1991: 35-41, 36.

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“Ecce Homo of 1981”, underground poster depicting Solidarity leader LechWałesa with a small badge with a face of Our Lady of Czestochowa pinnedto his jacket; from archive of Fundacja Centrum Dokumentacji CzynuNiepodległosciowego, Kraków, Poland.

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Our Lady of Czestochowa in transitory occasional political poetry

The linking of the wounds with national suffering, which the iconographyof the Martial Law period represented through the fusion of the outline ofthe scars from the Jasna Góra image with the national colors, found anotherexpression in the language of transitory poetry. An anonymous poem, whichcirculated at the beginning of the Martial Law period, recalls the image of OurLady of Czestochowa worn by Lech Wałesa as a small badge pinned into hisjacket (see “Wałesa’s Our Lady” above):

Lech Wałesa’s Prayer in Prison

Oh Blessed Virgin MaryI no longer have that badge with the face of CzestochowaWeeping in the snow of December.It has penetrated right inside together with this painWhich we have been given.With this one blow they rammed You into the depth of the soul,There I will find you and there I will fall with the nationBetrayed, exhausted, and there in the silence I will keep vigil.34

The words of popular songs sung during masses “for the motherland” andat demonstrations invoked the image of the wounded face of Our Lady ofCzestochowa:

34 Quoted in Danuta Dabrowska, ed., Zielona wrona: Antologia poezji okresu stanu wojennego[Green Crow: Anthology of the Poetry of the Martial Law Period] (Szczecin: “Polskie Pismoi Ksiazka,” 1994), 75. In underground printing, a poem appeared anonymously in Noc gen-erałów: Zbiór poezji wojennej 13 XII 1981-13.II 1982 [Generals’ Night: Anthology of WarPoetry 13 December 1981-13 February 1982] (Warszawa: Wojenna Oficyna Wydawnicza,1982), 36. Modlitwa Lecha Wałesy w wiezieniu / Matko Boza / Nie mam juz tej plakietkiz twarza Czestochowskiej / płaczacej w sniegu grudnia / Ona przenikneła az do wnetrzarazem z tym bólem / który nam zadano / Tym jednym ciosem wgnietli Cie w głab duszy /Tam Cie znajduje i tam przypadam z narodem / oszukanym, umeczonym i tam w milczeniuczuwam.

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Oh Mother with a face blackLike that Polish soil,Oh Mother with a face marked with scarsLike that Polish soil,Clasp us like your sonTo your heart,Oh our escape, our defensive shieldPray with us!35

Another popular and widely known song written in the 1980s also merges thenation’s fate with the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa:

. . . Oh Mother with scars on your faceA face darkened with worryOh Mother looking from the altarWith each century the more intense.Oh Mother with scars on your faceBlackened from the smoke of warOh Mother looking from the altarPlead for peaceful times for us . . .Oh Mother with scars on your faceSorrowful – from insurgent ranksOh Mother looking from the altarWounded by the weapons of spies.36

35 See W. Jasko, “X rocznica biezanowskiego protestu głodowego,” [Tenth Anniversary of theHunger Protest in Biezanów] Tygodnik Małopolska, 2 March 1995, 11. Polish original:Matko o twarzy jak ta polska / ziemia czarnej / Matko o twarzy jak ta polska / ziemia znac-zonej bliznami / Do serca swego jak syna nas przyganij / Ucieczko nasza, tarczo obronna / –módl sie za nami!

36 Quoted in Jasna Góra, December 1983, 64. [. . . ] Matko z bliznami na twarzy / twarzy odzmartwien ciemnej / Matko patrzaca z ołtarzy / co wiek to intensywniej. / Matko z bliznamina twarzy / sczerniałej od dymów wojny / Matko patrzaca z ołtarzy / wypraszaj nam czasspokojny [. . . ] / Matko z bliznami na twarzy / smutna – z powstanczych szeregów / Matkopatrzaca z ołtarzy / zraniona od broni szpiegów [. . . ].

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“Our Lady pray for us”, underground envelope made in Załeze interned camp with image of OurLady of Czestochowa; from archive of Fundacja Centrum Dokumentacji Czynu Niepodległos-ciowego, Kraków, Poland.

Similarly as in the discussed iconography, the symbolism of the wounds recallsthe historic link between the nation and the image of the Virgin Mary. Con-temporary hardship was interpreted with references to historical events: “thesmoke of war” (World War II) and “insurgent ranks” (the national uprisings inthe nineteenth and twentieth centuries). The cyclical understanding of time,characteristic of the transitory political poetry of the 1980s, can be describedin terms of “spontaneous historiosophy,” in which – according to Miłowit Ku-ninski – “the cyclical and linear concepts of contemporariness and the past aremixed together, combining various elements: the existential and historical, thesecular and the sacred.”37

37 Miłowit Kuninski, “Historiozofia zywiołowa a upadek komunizmu” [Spontanous Histo-riosophy and the Fall of Communism], in Czy historia moze sie cofnac? [Can History Re-turn?], ed. Bronisław Łagowski (Krakow: Wydawnictwo i Drukarnia “Secesja,” 1993), 9-25,12.

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Through the figure of the wounded and mourning Virgin Mary, the“wounded nation” was also interpreted in terms of biblical history, attaining atranscendental dimension. In the poetry of the Martial Law period, Our Ladyof Czestochowa appeared standing under a cross beneath which Poland wasdying:

Under this cross, where tornPoland died in the nightIn the ice of the Vistula, the snow of DecemberOur Lady of Czestochowa stood. . .Oh our Mother, Divine MotherPloughed up, whole in careOh give to usA greater faith and hopeOh Lady of Czestochowa38

The image of the Mourning Mother under the cross recalls the messianic vi-sion of Polish history, which was an important part of nineteenth-century na-tional mythology. The wounds of Our Lady of Czestochowa, the wounds ofthe Polish nation, and the wounds of the Messiah on the cross were symbol-ically unified. In 1982, inmates of the Strzebielinek prison sung “The Com-monwealth pierced by a spear” (Rzeczpospolita włócznia przebita) to the tuneof a patriotic song from the period of the partition of Poland.39 This phrase

38 Quoted in Dabrowska, Zielona wrona, 76. In underground printing a text of the song waspublished anonymously in: Wybór piesni spiewanych pod krzyzem z kwiatów w Warszawie[Anthology of Songs Sung at the Floral Cross in Warsaw] (Warsaw: Wydawnictwo CDNHuta Warszawa, no date), 25. Pod tym krzyzem, gdzie rozdarta / Umierała w nocy Polska /W lodach Wisły, sniegu grudnia / Stała Matka Czestochowska / [. . . ] / Matko nasza, MatkoBoza / Poorana, cała w troskach / Wieksza wiare i nadzieje / Daj nam Pani Czestochowska.

39 Quoted in Dabrowska, Zielona wrona, 83. Dabrowska recalls the text based on a hand-written letter sent from the internment camp in Strzebielinek. The text is signed with a date:13 June 1982. The title of the whole song is Modlitwa strzebielinska (The Strzebielinek’sPrayer), and it is supposed to be sung to the melody of “Piesn Konfederatów Barskich.”

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clearly recalls the nineteenth-century messianic interpretation of Poland de-picted as Christ on the cross.40

Besides the interpretation of the current political situation in terms of re-ligious symbolism and messianic mythology, the image of the Mater Dolorosaemphasized the personal and human dimension of people’s suffering. Mary asa powerful symbol present in traditional Catholic folk and popular religios-ity embodied universal values connected with motherhood and imbued publicaffairs with a private, even intimate dimension. The weeping Mary standingbefore the cross was one of the most popular figures in traditional Polish folkculture. The transitory political poetry of the Martial Law period also fre-quently recalled this image. The figure of a mother, especially the sufferingmother, seemed to capture people’s experiences and emotions. For readers aswell as for her devotees, it was easy to identify with her and to find a sort ofconsolation in her image and her story.

The text below depicts Mary as a normal woman, one of the Polish moth-ers who, anguished and horrified, had to witness the persecution of their chil-dren:

Wrapped up in clothes of snowBlackened and silentIn solidarity with her peopleThe Mourning Mother stoodAlarmed and sleeplessLike today each Polish motherCuddled us to the heartA bitter tear wetting the wafer.41

40 For more examples of religious-national symbols involving the image of crucified Christand for a discussion of the use of “religious-national” symbols by Solidarity, see LonginaJakubowska, “Political Drama in Poland: The Use of National Symbols,” Anthropology To-day 6:4 (1990): 10-13.

41 The final phrase of the quoted text recalls “the wafer” (Polish opłatek). The sharing of theopłatek (a wafer similar to that used by the Catholic Church for communion) is a traditionthat is celebrated in Poland by families at Christmas Eve dinners. Quoted in Dabrowska1994, 76. In underground printing, the text of the song was published anonymously inWybór piesni spiewanych, 25. Okutana szata z lodu / Poczerniała i milczaca / Solidarnie zludem swoim / Stała Matka Bolejaca / Zatrwozona i bezsenna / Jak dzis kazda z polskichmatek / Przytuliła nas do serca / Gorzka moczac łza opłatek.

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“I believe in resurrection”, underground Easter card from the 1980s; Stanisław Kus’s privatearchive.

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Conclusion

Analyzing the use and popularity of the symbol of Our Lady of Czestochowain the artworks and the transitory occasional political poetry of the MartialLaw period, it is possible to identify three contexts within which the woundedfigure of Mary was placed: the biblical, the historical-national, and the human.The intermingling of the various semantic layers, incorporated in the symbolof the wounds, conveyed the mythological message of a situation of break-through, in which Poles displayed a heightened need for self-definition andthe interpretation of a changing, instable, “liminal” reality. The interpretativeprinciples included the past (history, tradition), the religious order, as well asan archetypical human experience embodied in the figure of the “MourningMother” (Mater Dolorosa).

The example of Polish underground poetry and independent art from the1980s reveals the power of symbols and myths in Polish society; they are deeplyrooted in the collective memory and can be recalled in times of crisis andviolence. The creative forms of the 1980s portrayed above show the ways inwhich these religious and historical images were used to give meaning theterror, fear, and instability of the Martial Law period. Historically, religious-national language has served as an important code defining Polish identityand resistance. It was used in critical moments connected with danger andthe imposition of an official identity perceived as alien. During the 1980s,religious codes combined with national mythology to enable Polish society todefine itself through condensed, multilayered, and easily recognizable symbols.

How was this symbolic language modified in the new social and politi-cal circumstances after the demise of communism? It is interesting (thoughhardly surprising) to observe that many aspects of the symbolic language of re-sistance from the 1980s are still present in the public sphere: in social debates,in popular imagination, and in political propaganda – sometimes even disturb-ing the democratization process. Thus, to understand and to problematize thepost-1989 situation, often connected with an over-use of the religious-nationalcode, it is crucial to be aware of the symbolic and emotional power this codepossessed in the historical context of the “Solidarity decade.”

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Religious Symbols in Polish Underground Art and Poetry of the 1980s, in: Behrends J.C. and Lindenberger T. (eds.) (2014) Underground Publishing and the Public Sphere

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