BIO
Born on 24 December 1926 into a family of administrators in Mońki (Podlaskie Voivodeship); daughter of Cyprian Janion and Ludwika, née Kudryk. She completed comprehensive school in Wilno (today: Vilnius, Lithuania) in 1939. Following the outbreak of World War II, she remained in the city. During the period of wartime Lithuanian rule, she spent one year as a pupil at the Piotr Skarga Grammar School. Following the USSR's takeover of the region, she attended a Soviet school. During the German occupation in World War II, she continued her education in secret secondary school lessons. She was a member of the underground Polish Scouting Association, which was connected to the Home Army (AK). She and her family moved to Bydgoszcz in 1945 as part of what was officially termed repatriation. The same year, she took her advanced secondary education exams as an extramural pupil in Torun. In autumn of that year, she started a degree in Polish philology at the University of Lodz (UŁ). She made her debut in 1945 with the article Król i szlachcic (The King and the Nobleman), which appeared in the weekly "Kuźnica" (no, 10; using the by-line mj; it was a polemic with J.A. Król's text O poezji chłopskiej [On peasant poetry] in "Wieś" nos 12/13). She continued to publish articles and reviews in the same periodical in subsequent years. From 1946, she attended the literary criticism seminar offered by the weekly "Kuźnica" and run by Stefan Żółkiewski. In 1947, she joined the Życie (Life) Academic Union of Fighting Youth. She became a member of the editorial board of the weekly "Wieś" in 1948, where she also published reviews. That year, she published her first longer essay, Zagadnienie fikcji literackiej ze stanowiska socjologicznej teorii literatury (Literary fiction from the perspective of a sociological theory of literature), which was written together with Tadeusz Drewnowski, in the periodical "Twórczość" (no. 2). In November 1948, she took up a post as a research assistant at the Institute of Literary Research (IBL) in Warsaw, which was incorporated into the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) in 1951. She joined the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) in 1949, moving to Warsaw the same year. After graduating with a master's degree from the University of Warsaw (UW) in 1951, she worked as a research assistant there in 1951/52. In 1954, she was made acting professor at IBL PAN, before being made a candidate in philosophy (equivalent to a PhD) in 1955 for her study Lucjan Siemieński, poeta romantyczny (Lucjan Siemieński: Romantic poet). She was supervised by Prof. Stefan Żółkiewski. In her research, she focused primarily on Polish and European Romantic literature, as well as the history of twentieth-century literature, the history of ideas, and the methodology and ethical-empirical aspects of humanities. In later years, she also worked on feminism. She was likewise active as a literary critic, publishing short essays and reviews in periodicals including "Pamiętnik Literacki" (from 1950), "Nowa Kultura" (from 1952), "Życie Literackie" (from 1952), and "Twórczość" (from 1958). In 1956, she served as scientific secretary of IBL PAN. She was appointed senior lecturer in 1957, the same year that she was appointed to the Scientific Council of IBL, where she served several terms. From 1957, she also worked in parallel at the Higher School of Education (WSP) in Gdansk. She was made associate professor in 1963. From 1964, she was head of the Department of the History of Artistic Forms in Polish Literature and then from 1968 the Department of the History of Nineteenth-century Polish Literature (to 1890), at IBL PAN. She was appointed to the Committee on Polish Literature Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences in 1966 (which in 2003 was renamed the Committee on Literary Studies, KNoL). From 1968 to 1978, she was editor-in-chief of the editorial committee of the IBL series Historia i Teoria Literatury. Studia (Literary History and Theory: Studies), later serving as a member of the committee. During the academic year of 1968/69, she was removed from her post at the Higher School of Education in Gdansk for political reasons. Following the foundation of the University of Gdansk (UG), she was employed at its Institute of Polish Philology from 1970. She was involved in the activities of the Committee of the Olympiad in Polish Literature and Language, based at IBL PAN, from 1971. She published essays in IBL's bi-monthly "Teksty". She was made full professor in 1973. She gave seminars on the Doctoral Programme at IBL from 1974. In 1977, she became a founding member of the illegal Society for Scientific Courses (TKN). She was expelled from the PZPR the following year. She started editing the publication series Biblioteka Romantyczna (Romantic Library) from 1978, while also serving on the editorial committee of the Polish-Soviet series Polskie ruchy społeczno-polityczne i życie literackie 1832-1855 (Polish socio-political movements and literary life, 1832-1855). She was a member of the Polish Writers' Union (ZLP) from 1979 until its dissolution in 1983. She was awarded the New York-based A. Jurzykowski Foundation prize for 1980. She was founder and co-editor of the publication series Transgresje (Transgressions; 7 vols. 1981-88), which was published by the Gdansk-based Wydawnictwo Morskie. These volumes resulted from her seminars at UG. In 1980, she signed the Appeal of 64 intellectuals, writers and journalists that was addressed to the communist authorities, imploring them to enter into dialogue with the striking dockyard workers. In 1981, she started lecturing at UW and participated in the Congress of Polish Culture that was held that year and abandoned following the imposition of martial law on 13 December. She was dismissed from her post at UG in 1982, before being reinstated in the 1983/84 academic year. She continued to teach until 1989/90. She was active in the opposition group Reform and Democracy (Reforma i Demokracja). She was also a member of the Association for Humanism and Independent Ethics, the Polish Writers' Association (SPP) from 1989 and the Polish PEN Club from 1991. She was made an active member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (PAU) in 1990. She became a corresponding member in of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) in 1991, before becoming a full member in 1998. She became a full member of the Warsaw Learned Society in 1994. In the 1990s, she was a member of the Labour Solidarity (Solidarność Pracy) alliance, and then the Union of Labour (Unia Pracy) party between 1992 and 1998. She lectured at the School of Social Sciences at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFiS PAN) between 1992 and 2010. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from UG in 1994 and retired in 1996. She remained active as a researcher and in the work of the Scientific Council of IBL PAN. She was chair of the prestigious Nike Literary Prize between 1997 and 2004. She was appointed to the Programme Council of the Book Institute of the Ministry of Culture in 2004. She received numerous awards, including the 1998 Grand Prize of the Foundation of Culture, the 2001 Kazimierz Wyka prize for literary criticism, the Crystal Mirror (Kryształowe Zwierciadło) prize from the editors of the periodical "Zwierciadło" in 2004, a special prize awarded as part of the Passport (Paszport) awards of the weekly "Polityka" in recognition of cultural creators, the Splendor Gedanensis Prize of the City of Gdansk for Culture in 2007, the Prize of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in 2009, the Hyacinth Prize of the Equality Foundation (Fundacja Równości) in 2009, the Women's Congress Special Prize in 2010, and the J. Parandowski Prize of the Polish PEN Club in 2018. She was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis and 2007 and the French National Order of Merit in 2012. She lived in Warsaw. She died on 28 August 2020 in Warsaw and is buried in the Professors' Avenue at the city's Powązki Military Cemetery.
Twórczość
1. Lucjan Siemieński, poeta romantyczny. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy 1955, 314 s. IBL PAN.
2. Tragizm „Konrada Wallenroda”. Warszawa 1955, 45 s., powielone. Materiały Dyskusyjne Komisji Naukowej Obchodu Roku Mickiewicza PAN. Sekcja Historii Literatury i Języka. Przedruk zob. poz. ↑, ↑ (t. 2)).
3. Dialektyka historii w polemice między Słowackim a Krasińskim. Warszawa 1959, 46 s., powielone. Rok Słowackiego 1809-1959. Materiały Sesji Naukowej 25-28 listopada 1959.
4. Zygmunt Krasiński, debiut i dojrzałość. [Monografia]. Warszawa: Wiedza Powszechna 1962, 274 s. Z prac IBL PAN.
Nagrody
5. Romantyzm. Studia o ideach i stylu. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy 1969, 361 s.
Zawartość
6. Romantyzm, rewolucja, marksizm. Colloquia gdańskie. Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Morskie 1972, 449 s.
Nagrody
Zawartość
Przekłady
serbsko-chorwacki
7. „Wiersze sieroce” Lenartowicza. [Referat]. [Kraków] 1972, 35 s. Instytut Filologii Polskiej Wyższej Szkoły Pedagogicznej w Krakowie, IBL PAN, Towarzystwo im. M. Konopnickiej. Przedruk zob. poz. ↑.
8. Humanistyka: Poznanie i terapia. [Eseje]. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy 1974, 248 s. Wyd. 2 tamże 1982.
Zawartość
9. Gorączka romantyczna. [Studia]. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy 1975, 585 s. Wyd. 2 Gdańsk: słowo/obraz terytoria. 2007. Przedruk zob. poz. ↑ (t. 1)).
Nagrody
Zawartość
Przekłady
rosyjski
10. Poezja w kraju. (Próba syntezy). W: Obraz literatury polskiej XIX i XX wieku. Seria 3. Literatura krajowa w okresie romantyzmu 1831-1863. T. 1. Kraków 1975 s. 9-145. Przedruk poprawiony pt. Purpurowy płaszcz Mickiewicza zob. poz. ↑.
11. Romantyzm i historia. [Studia; współautorka:] M. Żmigrodzka. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy 1978, 638 s. Z prac IBL PAN. Wyd. 2 Gdańsk: słowo/obraz terytoria 2001.
Nagrody
Zawartość
12. Odnawianie znaczeń. [Szkice]. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie 1980, 367 s.
Zawartość
13. Czas formy otwartej. Tematy i media romantyczne. [Szkice]. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy 1984, 389 s.
Zawartość
14. Wobec zła. [Eseje]. Chotomów: Verba 1989, 208 s.
Zawartość
Przekłady
niemiecki
15. Życie pośmiertne Konrada Wallenroda. [Studium].Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy 1990, 707 s.
Nagrody
16. Projekt krytyki fantazmatycznej. Szkice o egzystencjach ludzi i duchów. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo PEN 1991, 219 s.
Zawartość
Przekłady
angielski
francuski
17. Kuźnia natury. [Studium]. Gdańsk: słowo/obraz 1994, 94 s. Zob. poz. ↑.
18. Wobec końca wieku. Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego 1995, 14 s.
19. „Czy będziesz wiedział, co przeżyłeś”. [Szkice]. Warszawa: Sic! 1996, 114 s. Wyd. 2 tamże 2018.
Zawartość
20. Kobiety i duch inności. [Szkice]. Warszawa: Sic! 1996, 349 s. Wyd. 2 tamże 2006.
Zawartość
21. Sprawa Stawrogina. [Autorzy:] R. Przybylski M. Janion. Posłowie: T. Komendant. Warszawa: Sic! 1996, 87 s.
22. Odyseja wychowania. Goetheańska wizja człowieka w „Latach nauki i latach wędrówki Wilhelma Meistra”. [Autorki:] M. Janion, M. Żmigrodzka. Kraków: Aureus 1998, 423 s.
23. Płacz generała. Eseje o wojnie. Warszawa: Sic! 1998, 307 s. Wyd. 2 przejrzane i rozszerzone tamże 2007, 356 s.
Zawartość
Przekłady
angielski
niemiecki
24. Trzy eseje= Drei Aufsätze. [Autorzy:] M. Janion, B. Fac, Z. Watrak. Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo im. J. Lelewela, Towarzystwo Polska-Niemcy [1998], 41 + 42 s.
Przekłady
niemiecki
25. Do Europy – tak, ale razem z naszymi umarłymi. [Szkice i wywiady]. Warszawa: Sic! 2000, 268 s. Wyd. nast. : tamże 2017; Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Krytyki Politycznej: partner wydania: Fundacja Marii Janion. Odnawianie znaczeń 2024.
Zawartość
Przekłady
niemiecki
26. Prace wybrane. Pod red. M. Czermińskiej. Kraków: Universitas. 2000-2002.
T. 1. Gorączka romantyczna. 2000, XXV, 568 s. Zob. poz. ↑.
T. 2. Tragizm, historia, prywatność. [Szkice]. 2000, 466 s.
Zawartość
T. 3. Zło i fantazmaty. [Szkice]. 2001, 417 s.
Zawartość
T. 4. Romantyzm i jego media. [Szkice]. 2001, 736 s.
Zawartość
T. 5. Biografie romantyczne. 2002, 370 s.
Zawartość
27. Purpurowy płaszcz Mickiewicza. Studium z historii poezji i mentalności. Gdańsk: słowo/obraz terytoria 2001, 246 s.
28. Żyjąc tracimy życie. Niepokojące tamaty egzystencji. [Szkice]. Warszawa: WAB 2001, 424 s.
Zawartość
Przekłady
niemiecki
29. Wampir. Biografia symboliczna. Gdańsk: słowo/obraz terytoria 2002, 567 s. Wyd. nast. tamże: wyd. 2 2007, wyd. 3 2023.
Przekłady
węgierski
30. Romantyzm i egzystencja. Fragmenty niedokończonego dzieła. [Szkice; współautorka:] M. Żmigrodzka. Gdańsk: słowo/obraz terytoria 2004, 215 s.
Zawartość
31. Niesamowita słowiańszczyzna. Fantazmaty literatury. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie 2006, 357 s. Wyd. nast.: tamże 2007 (dodruk), wyd. 2 2016, wyd. 3 2022.
Przekłady
czeski
32. The Jewish colonel. A romantic and non-romantic biography = Pułkownik żydowski. Życiorys romantyczny i nieromantyczny [Przekł. angielski] R.S. Czarny. Kraków: Fundacja Judaica – Centrum Kultury Żydowskiej 2008, 168 s. Annual Memorial Lecture ; no. 9.
Przekłady
niemiecki
33. Bohater, spisek, śmierć. Wykłady żydowskie. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo W.A.B. 2009, 323 s. Z Wagą.
Inne formy wydań
Przekłady
niemiecki
34. Janion. Transe, trauma, transgresje. [Wywiad – rzeka]. Rozmawia K. Szczuka. Warszawa: Wydawnitwo Krytyki Politycznej 2012-2014. Seria z różą.
T. 1 Niedobre dziecię. 2012, s. 161 T. 2. Prof. Misia. 2014, s. 165.
Artykuły w czasopismach i książkach zbiorowych, m.in.
Wybory tekstów w przekładach
niemiecki
Przekłady tekstów w antologiach zagranicznych
niemiecki
serbski
ukraiński
Prace redakcyjne
Omówienia i recenzje
• Ankieta dla IBL PAN 1992.
Autor o sobie
Wywiady
Zob. też Twórczość poz.↑ ↑,↑ ,↑.