“Ovid’s Old Age”: Jacek Kaczmarski and the Sung Poetry of Exile
“Ovid’s Old Age” is a sung poem written by the Polish poet and musician Jacek Kaczmarski (1957–2004) which engages with the myth of Ovid’s exile. Kaczmarski’s works were heavily influenced both by classical culture and his experience of political emigration during the communist era. He was famed as...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Clotho |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.uni-lj.si/clotho/article/view/9634 |
| _version_ | 1797949616946151424 |
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| author | Paweł Borowski Henry Stead |
| author_facet | Paweł Borowski Henry Stead |
| author_sort | Paweł Borowski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
“Ovid’s Old Age” is a sung poem written by the Polish poet and musician Jacek Kaczmarski (1957–2004) which engages with the myth of Ovid’s exile. Kaczmarski’s works were heavily influenced both by classical culture and his experience of political emigration during the communist era. He was famed as an unofficial bard of the opposition movement, but is as yet little known to classical reception scholars. This paper presents Kaczmarski’s creative engagement with Ovid as both a deeply personal reflection on the nature of exile and at the same time a universal commentary on poetry under authoritarian regimes. Our interpretation is based on a thematic analysis of the poem, including landscape, imperialism, displacement, “national” poets in exile, nostalgia, and the force of poetry. We set the reception in its social, political, and biographical context, with reference to several mediating receptions of the Ovidian exile. In Kaczmarski’s poem, the Ovidian voice helps the poet to express the trials of emigration and reveals their effect on his art. It shows how engagements with classical culture may flourish, even while the formal discipline of Classics has been undernourished. We provide a bilingual translation of “Ovid’s Old Age” to foster the understanding of migratory experiences in contemporary poetry and enrich international scholarship on the reception of Ovid with a response from communist Poland.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T22:02:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d2ee162dc79842bfa1fd5055fe632e73 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2670-6210 2670-6229 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T22:02:28Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Clotho |
| spelling | doaj.art-d2ee162dc79842bfa1fd5055fe632e732023-01-18T09:21:48ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Clotho2670-62102670-62292020-12-012210.4312/clotho.2.2.5-38“Ovid’s Old Age”: Jacek Kaczmarski and the Sung Poetry of ExilePaweł Borowski0Henry Stead1University of St Andrews, United KingdomUniversity of St Andrews, United Kingdom “Ovid’s Old Age” is a sung poem written by the Polish poet and musician Jacek Kaczmarski (1957–2004) which engages with the myth of Ovid’s exile. Kaczmarski’s works were heavily influenced both by classical culture and his experience of political emigration during the communist era. He was famed as an unofficial bard of the opposition movement, but is as yet little known to classical reception scholars. This paper presents Kaczmarski’s creative engagement with Ovid as both a deeply personal reflection on the nature of exile and at the same time a universal commentary on poetry under authoritarian regimes. Our interpretation is based on a thematic analysis of the poem, including landscape, imperialism, displacement, “national” poets in exile, nostalgia, and the force of poetry. We set the reception in its social, political, and biographical context, with reference to several mediating receptions of the Ovidian exile. In Kaczmarski’s poem, the Ovidian voice helps the poet to express the trials of emigration and reveals their effect on his art. It shows how engagements with classical culture may flourish, even while the formal discipline of Classics has been undernourished. We provide a bilingual translation of “Ovid’s Old Age” to foster the understanding of migratory experiences in contemporary poetry and enrich international scholarship on the reception of Ovid with a response from communist Poland. https://journals.uni-lj.si/clotho/article/view/9634Jacek Kaczmarskiclassical receptionPolandOvidsung poetrycommunism |
| spellingShingle | Paweł Borowski Henry Stead “Ovid’s Old Age”: Jacek Kaczmarski and the Sung Poetry of Exile Clotho Jacek Kaczmarski classical reception Poland Ovid sung poetry communism |
| title | “Ovid’s Old Age”: Jacek Kaczmarski and the Sung Poetry of Exile |
| title_full | “Ovid’s Old Age”: Jacek Kaczmarski and the Sung Poetry of Exile |
| title_fullStr | “Ovid’s Old Age”: Jacek Kaczmarski and the Sung Poetry of Exile |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Ovid’s Old Age”: Jacek Kaczmarski and the Sung Poetry of Exile |
| title_short | “Ovid’s Old Age”: Jacek Kaczmarski and the Sung Poetry of Exile |
| title_sort | ovid s old age jacek kaczmarski and the sung poetry of exile |
| topic | Jacek Kaczmarski classical reception Poland Ovid sung poetry communism |
| url | https://journals.uni-lj.si/clotho/article/view/9634 |
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