www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Books About Europe: Life in Galicia

Without Sin or History

by Christina Manetti
Translations Online
16 July 2003

Andrzej Stasiuk's marooned Galicians are searchers for things as essential, heavy, and rough as themselves.

Opowiesci galicyjskie, by Andrzej Stasiuk. Czarne, 2001 (originally published by Znak in 1995).

Tales of Galicia, translated from the Polish by Margarita Nafpaktitis. Prague, Twisted Spoon Press, 2003. 140 pages.

Excerpt:

Galicia�--the name of the former Austrian province comprising a great swath of what is today southern Poland through to western Ukraine--conjures up images of a multicultural society, where Poles, Ruthenians, Ukrainians, Jews, Austrians, and Roma coexisted. In Stasiuk�s book, the only traces of these groups are the Greek Catholic church in ruins, abandoned by Ruthenians forced to resettle far to the west in the territories annexed to Poland after World War II; the old Austrian and Ruthenian cemeteries, also abandoned; and the Jewish headstones once used by the Germans to build a dam.

It was a province of paradoxes. Galicia was poor because it was rich: Its poverty was rooted in the fertile soil of the region, which made demographic growth possible, and resulted in Galicia's very high population density. At the same time, however, demographic growth put pressure on the peasants to divide family holdings among the children, which in turn led to increasingly small and scattered holdings. At the end of the 19th century, this problem was publicized widely in a book by the man who discovered oil in Galicia, Stanislaw Szczepanowski; its title, Nedza galicyjska, immortalized the now almost proverbial saying: "Galician poverty."

While the province's literacy rate was notoriously low, at the same time--another Galician paradox--the period of the Austrian partition is now remembered for the educational and cultural opportunities it afforded Galicians. In particular, that time is known for its cultural freedom, which was sharply restricted in the Prussian and Russian partitions. Important centers of learning did exist, whether in the provincial capital Lwow (Lviv), in Krakow, or further afield in Vienna.

Stasiuk tells the story of modern-day Galicia through what at first appears to be a collection of short stories, each focused on a single character; slowly, however, a plot involving men, women, and murder begins to emerge against a rural backdrop of destitution, gloom, violence, and alcohol. In the original Polish, one can hear Stasiuk tell the story in a language rife with poetic images and alive with the characters' earthy, usually laconic, speech. The narrator sometimes is an outsider, perhaps the author himself; elsewhere, there is an omniscient narrator. It is this novel's language that makes it ring true and is perhaps its single most memorable and appealing aspect. Unfortunately, this is also the single most difficult quality to convey in a translation.

Click here to read the Book Review [tol.cz] (the review is 3 pages long)

Thank you.
Potentially fascinating.

How did a former Austrian province acquire the name of a former independant Christian kingdom of the Iberian peninsula? Is there a connection stemming from the time when the King of Spain was the Holy Roman Emperor (Carlos V)?

The kingdom of Galicia was absorbed under the Castilian crown by Alfonso VI (11/12th C.). Galicia is now an Autonomous Community of the Kingdom of Spain. The capital of Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, is an ancient pilgrimage site honoring St James (Santiago) the Apostle, whose relics are interred in the cathedral.

The name "Galicia" (Halichyna) comes from the Rus' settlement that was called Halich. It became an important cultural and political center for the Eastern Slavs (Rusyn/Ukrainian), as important as the cities L'viv and Peremyshl which are also located in the former territory of "Galicia".

Ung-Certez

U-C,

so is "Galicia" the anglicized form of Halichyna?

"Galicia" is actually the Polish rendering (Gul-litz-see-a).

Ung-Certez

In Castilian, "Galicia" is pronounced Ga-lee-thee-a. I guess there would not be any confusion once you heard someone speaking about "Galicia".

The book "Ukraine A History" by Orest Subtelny has quite alot about Galicia in it.

Dear Friends,

Some have suggested common Celtic roots for Galicia etc.

A portion of the Iberian peninsula was, in the time of King MacBeth of Scotland, known as "Celiberia" and MacBeth visited it on his way to Rome where he met with these people and could speak to them in their Celtic language.

Even "Carpathians" comes from the Celtic "Carpi" and "Wallachia" from the "Wal" or "wild" Celtic tribes.

The grammar of the Basque language is actually similar to that of Ukrainian . . .

Alex

I thought the Carpathian Mts. were named after the Greek Isle "Karpathos"??

Ung-Certez

Dear Ung,

They could very well have been - but I've also read the view with respect to the Celts.

As you know, Celtic civilization actually began in the Carpathian Mountains coming from the Hallstadt and La Tene cultures.

While it actually proves little in this connection, the fact remains that Celtic missionaries came to Kyiv at the time of St Olha the Great - there seems to be a lot in common with the pre-Christian religions of the Celts and of the East Slavs, especially with respect to the sun-cult et al.

The Celts were really all over the place - Paris was named for the Celtic tribe of the Parisii that fished there and the heads on the Notre Dame Cathedral reflect the ancient Celtic practice of lining up the heads of defeated enemies on walls . . .

And any people or thing with "Wal" (wild or strange since the Celts were wanderers) as a prefix has Celtic roots, Wallonia, Wallachia and "Walnuts" ("strange nuts?" ).

Alex

Greetings!
Also Wales, Walsh and Wallace!

But then there are the Vlahk peoples who are considered remnants of Latin/Romans in the East. All of these words have been linked in some way but I'm not sure if they represent Celtic or Roman connections. Some have suggested Wallachia is a term referring to the Romans, I am undecided and no expert.

I was pretty certain that Halychnia and Galicia were normally considered two places. I would like to know if they were originally one great pre-Russian state or even pre-Slavic state but I doubt it. Most sources I have come across have agreed that Galicia was inhabited for a time by Celts/Gauls and it would be anyones guess to know whether they were generally driven out or exterminated or absorbed into the new populations (probably all three varying by degrees from area to area).

People under pressure like that could carry on friendly, vigourous trade with the newcomers (they probably did before the Slavic migrations). But honestly I think they made for the high ground. If they fled in some kind of orderly fashion it would have been through the passes into the Hungarian plain, just ahead of the Serbs and Croats.

One thing is certain though, the Galicia of Spain has retained a great deal of it's Celtic culture, even the physical appearance of many of the inhabitants has been noted. Galacia in Turkey and Galicia in Ukraine /Poland show less evidence that could be clearly attributed to the Celts.

Pax
Michael

Dear Michael,

Yes, and Cornwall and Brittany too!

Celts figured in the Roman army and were well suited to the constant moving around it did as they were wanderers by nature.

The later Celtic Druids were often hired by the Roman Administration as clerks as they knew Greek and Latin - they refused, however, to put down in writing their own Celtic rituals and so we have no real record of them today.

The Celts also built the city of Sevatopil in the Crimea and I wonder if there is anything published on the impact of Celtic culture on the Slavs?

Alex

Wasn't there a book called "In the High Uplands" about the Hutsul, by a Polish author? I have been trying to find a copy of this for years. I have read and re-read my public libraries copy for years and would love to have my own. Don

Dear Don,

A Polish author on the Hutsuls? That sounds like an objective read . . .

A teacher colleague of mine pointed out two 'scholarly' books on Met. Andrew Sheptytsky published in Poland by similar authors.

Hopefully, they weren't shared by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome

Remember, I'm half-Polish - a real PUKIE.

Alex