Sarmatism vs. Orientalism
in Central Europe

The aim of our conference is to initiate international, interdisciplinary discourse on the subject of orientalism and sarmatism. The importance and role of Sarmatism outside Poland sometimes requires explanations. However, starting from its origins, the ancient term Sarmatia can refer to cultures of inhabitants of historical territories between the Vistula River and the Caspian Sea on the one side, and the Baltic Sea, the White Sea and Carpathians up to coasts of the Black Sea on the other. Between XV and XVIII century a considerable part of the said areas formed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in its "golden age". They were a bridge between the West and the East, having a remarkable influence on the image of Eastern Europe - it is enough to look at Rembrandt's The Polish rider, or paintings of Polish husaria cavalry at Vienna (1683), led by King Jan III Sobieski, who was the best representative of Sarmatism.

Primarily, these are the people, their religion, mentality and art that shape cultures. Ethnic diversity (Poles, Lithuanians, Rusyns, Cossacks, Jews, Hungarians, Tatars, Armenians, Circassians and others) results in the richness of forms which, despite apparent differences, also reveal many common features, prompting the need for intense research. All of these influences merge with each other creating an exotic, intriguing picture recognizable in its iconic, verbal and tonal form.

Art, literature and music are the sources of knowledge about the peculiar world of Sarmatians, which was so vividly depicted by Sigismund von Herberstein (1486-1566). Sarmatism is usually ascribed to Polish mentality, although its manifestations were also characteristic of the baroque in general: starting from lavish feasts, through the passion for horses and hunts, to oriental splendor, fashion and striving for personal liberty, which reluctantly complied with the state order. All of the above constitutes a certain image which allows us to define mechanisms of various cultural phenomena, the effect of which (at times only in vestigial form) is noticeable to this day.

The conference will take place in Zamość, the "hetman's town", where over 400 years ago the Sarmatism encountered the Western world, and where the traces of this contact are still vivid and visible.

We invite: art historians, historians, culture experts, specialists in Polish and Slavonic studies, orientalists, specialists in religious studies, folklorists, ethnologists, culture geographers and others.

Suggested topics:
Europe and Turkey / Baroque and orientalism / Sarmatian customs and their reflection in art and literature / Orientalism in the Polish culture: Orient as paradise vision / Journeys to the Orient / Polish aristocracy culture in Western eyes

Conference languages: English, German, section for Polish-speaking participants

Registration with the title & abstract of an intended 30-min. lecture or 15-min. communicate.
Registration deadline rescheduled to 19th October 2010 Conference fee of 70 EUR is to be transferred until 1st Nov. 2010
on account No.: PL78 1140 1094 0000 2905 1600 1047
Swift/BIC: BREXPLPWLUB; Bank code: 11401094
(transfer title: Sarmatism)
Account owner: Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej w Lublinie
Pl. Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej 5; PL- 20-031 Lublin


Conventor: Prof. Dr. Piotr O. Scholz
Coordination: Magdalena Dlugosz, MA

Contact: zphs [at] vp.pl