Jacek Bocheński (; born 29 July 1926) is a Polish writer, author of ''The Roman Trilogy'' (''Divine Julius, Naso the Poet, Tiberius Caesar''); an opposition figure in communist Poland and a leading figure in Polish literary circles. His literary work is characterized by frequent references to

Roman Antiquity In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdo ...

and its projection on the moral and political dilemmas of the modern world. In addition, it raises issues such as opposition to

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

power, and the place of the individual in the modern world and in history. The style of his prose, noted for its beauty, is often experimental, involving the blending of narrative

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

and

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

indirect speech In linguistics, speech or indirect discourse is a grammatical mechanism for reporting the content of another utterance without directly quoting it. For example, the English sentence ''Jill said she was coming'' is indirect discourse while ''Ji ...

, blurring of identities, and frequent switching between times and places of action, lending it to multiple levels of interpretation.

Biography

Bocheński was born in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

on 29 July 1926. He made his debut with a poem in the weekly Odrodzenie" in 1944. Member of the Polish communist party 1948–1966, he was expelled from it for having participated a protests against the expulsion of

Leszek Kołakowski Leszek Kołakowski (; ; 23 October 1927 – 17 July 2009) was a Polish philosopher and historian of ideas. He is best known for his critical analysis of Marxism, Marxist thought, as in his three-volume history of Marxist philosophy ''Main Current ...

. In 1976, together with Wiktor Woroszylski, he founded the underground literary journal "Zapis", and served as its editor-in-chief 1978–1981. One of the 64 signatories of a letter to the communist authorities dated August 23, 1980 (“Letter of 64") urging the communist authorities to engage in a dialogue with the striking

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

workers. 1981–1983, interned by the communist government during

Martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

. 1988-1990 member of the (advisory) Civic Committee to

Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as the president of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 Polish presidential election, 1990 election, Wałę ...

. In 1989 he became one of the founders of the Polish Writers' Association. In the years 1995-1997 he was vice-president, and then in the years 1997–1999, president of the Polish PEN Club. Organizer of the PEN World Congress in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in 1999. In the years 1999–2014, he was a member of the

Polish Language Council The Council for the Polish Language ( Polish: ''Rada Języka Polskiego'') is the official language regulating organ of Polish. It was established by the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences pursuant to Resolution No. 17/96 of 9 September 1 ...

and 2010 - 2013 chairman of Society of Authors ZAiKS. Decorated with the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. Under the pseudonym Adam Hosper, he wrote texts for popular music. Author of the lyrics for several hit songs

English translations of ''Roman Trilogy''

Jacek Bocheński, ''Divine Julius. How to become a god in four easy steps'', translated by Tom Pinch, Mondrala Press, 2022. Jacek Bocheński, ''Naso the Poet: The Loves and Crimes of Rome's Greatest Poet'', translated by Tom Pinch, Mondrala Press, 2023. Jacek Bocheński, ''Tiberius Caesar: An Investigation'', translated by Tom Pinch, Mondrala Press, 2023.

Bibliography

Jacek Bocheński, ''Wtedy - rozmowy z Jackiem Bocheńskim'', Świat Książki, Warszawa, 2011. Wanda Bronska, ''Literarische Unruhe in Polen'', published in "Süddeutsche Zeitung" 10.12.1961. Justyna Dąbrowska, ''Study of womanhood in Jacek Bocheński's antique trilogy'', published in " Annales Philologiae Vol. 33, No 1 (2015). Aleksander Fiut, ''Les visages de la tyrannie dans la trilogie Romaine de Jacek Bocheński,'' published in "Researches et Travaux, 80/2012, pp. 49-55. Katarzyna Marciniak, ''Veni, Vidi, Verti. Jacek Bocheński's Games with Censhorhip,'' published in David Morvin and Elżbieta Olechowska, eds., " Classics and Class. Teaching Greek and Latin behind the Iron Curtain, Ljubljana-Warsaw:Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana-Obta, Faculty of "Artes Liberales" UW, 2016, pp. 358–387, and photos 504–5011. Tom Pinch, ''Bocheński's Notorious Roman Trilogy: A Great Literary Classic: History, Essays, Fragments (The Notorious Roman Trilogy Boom 4)'', Mondrala Press, 2022. Tomasz Strzyżewski, ''Wielka Księga Cenzury PRL w dokumentach'', Prohibita, Warszawa, 2015. Ludwig Zimmerer, ''Ruhe - des Bürgers erste Pflicht'', published in " Die Welt, 15.12.1961. Theodore Ziółkowski, ''Ovid and the Moderns'', Cornell University Press, 2005. ''Caesar nach modernen Müstern'', published in "Deutsche Zeitung, 16–17.02.1963.

References

External links

* https://jacek-bochenski.home.blog/ * https://instytutpolski.pl/Roma/2021/07/02/divus-iulius-intervista-a-jacek-bochenski * https://www.dichterlesen.net/personel/detail/jacek-bochenski/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Bocheński, Jacek 1926 births Living people Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland Polish writers