Славянский мир в третьем тысячелетии (Feb 2022)
A Look at The Dictionary of Slavic Antiquities a Quarter of a Century since Its Publication
Abstract
The Dictionary of Slavic Antiquities remains a unique interdisciplinary compendium of knowledge on early Slavic history and culture. It is one of the greatest achievements of the Polish Slavists, and it is still often cited by many modern scholars. This article presents the course of work on the Dictionary, the stages of its creation, and the specifics of the entire publishing process. The author presents the first unsuccessful attempt to publish the dictionary in the 1930s and the second, successful, attempt undertaken after World War II. Particular emphasis is given to the post-war political situation in the country, which had a significant impact on the creation of the Dictionary, including the ability to contact foreign scholars and to use foreign literature. In addition, the article highlights the connection of the Dictionary creators to an interdisciplinary community of scholars little-known outside of Poland called the “Western thought”. Poznan University, founded in 1919, and the Western Institute, founded in 1945 and affiliated with the university, were the main centres of the “Western thought” before and after World War II. This location influenced the content of the submitted articles significantly. Some authors, especially those who worked on articles about the West Slavic region or about the ethnogenesis of the Slavs, had evident Polish-centric views. The position of the scholars was determined by the result of World War II and the return of the so-called “Western lands” to Poland. The article also analyses other problems faced by the editors of “The Dictionary of Slavic Antiquities” and presents the factors that led to the successful outcome of this publishing initiative. One of these was the decision taken by the editorial staff in 1959 to transform the planned two-volume edition into a multivolume scientific encyclopaedia.
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