Rethinking the Nineteenth Century in Literary Criticism: Traditions, Debates, and Reinterpretations

The international student and doctoral conference “Rethinking the Nineteenth Century in Literary Criticism: Traditions, Debates, and Reinterpretations” aims to reflect on the ways in which the nineteenth century has been used, transformed, and problematised within twentieth- and twenty-first-century critical thought. Our primary interest lies in discourses on literature — literary criticism, literary history, theoretical and metacritical reflection — as well as in those areas of intellectual history and cultural studies that enter into dialogue with literary scholarship.

The conference has an international scope. Our aim is not only to examine Polish humanistic discourse but also to situate it within a broader European and transnational context. We therefore welcome both studies focused on the Polish critical tradition and comparative approaches addressing the circulation of concepts, models of periodisation, theoretical influences, and the shared (or contested) critical language used to describe “nineteenth-century-ness” across different cultural contexts.

At the same time, alongside reflections on how the nineteenth century has been discussed in later criticism (in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries), we also wish to emphasise the importance of the nineteenth-century conceptual legacy: the categories developed in the nineteenth century that continue to structure the language of literary criticism today.

Call for Papers

We invite papers that engage with the questions outlined above and address the following research areas:

1. The Nineteenth Century as a Critical Construct

• How has the “nineteenth century” been conceptualised in twentieth- and twenty-first-century Polish and European literary criticism?
• In what ways has it been positioned between a historical epoch and a project of modernity — from a category of literary-historical periodisation to a symbolic framework for interpreting modern culture?
• How does the nineteenth century function as an interpretative tool, a point of reference, a model, or a counter-model?
• How have critical approaches to Romanticism, Realism, processes of modernisation, or national ideas evolved over time?
• Can we speak of a shared European critical language for describing nineteenth-century culture and literature?

2. Figures and Genealogies of Critical Discourse

Particular attention will be devoted to critics and thinkers whose interpretations of the nineteenth century have become a lasting element of Polish humanistic discourse, including:

• Maurycy Mochnacki
• Stanisław Brzozowski
• Maria Janion

Possible topics include:

• their contemporary reception in Poland and abroad,
• reinterpretations of their critical projects,
• the dynamics of continuation and contestation within the Polish critical tradition,
• transformations in the authority and role of the critic in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries,
• the comparative context of their thought (e.g. French, German, or Russian intellectual influences).

3. Debates on the Nineteenth Century

• What interpretative conflicts have structured discussions of Romanticism and its legacy?
• In what ways has the nineteenth century served as a site of disputes about modernity, nationhood, community, and the political dimensions of literature?
• How have nineteenth-century categories been mobilised in later debates — from modernism to the present?
• Can we identify enduring lines of division within Polish and European critical discourse?
• To what extent do Polish debates about the nineteenth century reflect broader European interpretative conflicts?

4. The Conceptual Legacy of the Nineteenth Century (Historical Perspective)

This section focuses on categories developed in the nineteenth century that continue to shape the contemporary language of literary criticism.

• Which concepts formulated in the nineteenth century remain active in present-day literary discourse?
• Does contemporary humanities scholarship still operate within nineteenth-century models of thinking about literature?
• How were the relationships between literature, history, politics, and community conceptualised in nineteenth-century critical reflection?
• Is it possible to deconstruct the nineteenth century without simultaneously reproducing its conceptual framework?
• What might a comparative history of literary-historical concepts and models of periodisation across different national traditions look like?

Conference Information

The conference will take place on 8 June 2026 at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.

Participation in the conference is free of charge.

Please submit an abstract (up to 250 words) together with a short biographical note via the attached submission form by 27 April 2026.

Submission form — Complete the form Formularz zgłoszeniowy  – Wypełnij formularz

At the beginning of May, applicants will be notified of the results of the selection process and will receive the detailed conference schedule.

The Scientific Committee overseeing the academic programme of the conference consists of:

• Prof. dr hab. Magdalena Siwiec
• Prof. dr hab. Maciej Urbanowski
• Prof. dr hab. Michał Kuziak

We warmly invite both active participants (presenters) and passive participants (audience members) to attend the conference.

Organising Committee
Section for Nineteenth-Century Literature
Comparative Literature Students’ Association
Jagiellonian University