The Hublic Sphere | Looking East, Looking West: Should we change how we talk about Eastern Europe?

14th April 2022 In the final episode of season two, Conor Brennan
speaks to Dr Kasia Szymanska and Dr Karolina Watroba about the
connections between Eastern and Western Europe. They discuss the
Polish response to the invasion of Ukraine, and the concept of
‘Central Europe’ as a way of pushing back against the
homogenisation of former Eastern Bloc countries. This includes the
idea of a Central European literature, championed by prominent
writers such as Milan Kundera and, more recently, Olga Tokarczuk.
They consider what is distinctively Central European about these
and other writers, and whether such concepts help or hinder mutual
understanding from one edge of Europe to the other. We also discuss
the various types of writing that encouraged an exoticised and
homogenised view of the countries east of the Iron Curtain during
the Cold War.

They talk about the differences in multilingualism between Poland
and Ireland or the UK, from the privileging of some second
languages over others to the westward flow of migration that has
made the Anglosphere arguably more multilingual and multi-ethnic
than the formerly diverse and vibrant territory of Poland.
Finally, they consider whether the war in Ukraine might lead to a
renewed engagement with and deeper understanding of the region.
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