Yet another former Polish Prime Minister makes a career for himself abroad! Jerzy Buzek’s decision to contest for the top job in the European Parliament was widely commented on in the media in the same manner that surrounds important sporting events, where ‘must win’ is uttered in every second sentence. Well, he won out in the end – and a refreshing era for this institution begins.
I mean this, of course, for the Polish language. For the next two-and-a-half years, all Parliament sessions will now also be conducted in Polish. This surely means a distinct career advantage for anyone in Poland with skills in other European tongues. And vice versa, Polish classes may appear like mushrooms after the rain in language schools abroad, and our language will begin to blossom in the spheres of politics, business, economics, law and so on.
It’s not too hard to imagine – after all, we’re already used to Polish, aren’t we? It’s heard on the streets of Dublin every day. But is it just a naïve wish? Not necessarily. Imagine that, for instance, some active Welsh politician takes up such a position in the European Parliament and refuses to speak English, regardless of the fact that Welsh does not have such a comfortable position in the EU as, say, Irish. This would definitely be a cool shower on the MEPs. But Polish? It has already conquered Europe, especially the British Isles, so no-one should be surprised.
Every year in June, my brother co-organises an open art event called Survival. This summer was my first opportunity to see it – 42 installations were spread throughout a film studio soundstage in Wroclaw. One I particularly enjoyed was by Grzegorz Loznikow: on the concrete floor, the artist placed a painted map of the British Isles, a simple series of shapes you could walk through or admire from the balcony above.
But what was especially striking were the many Polish words placed in locations all over the map. It showed a real truth about the influence we Polish have had on the rest of Europe over the last number of years, even if our language is now heard less abroad than it once was.
And I bet that image would have made the front page on many major newspapers here and in Britain if it weren’t so concealed in a fringe art event.
– Anna Paluch
