Institute of English Studies & Institute of Romance Studies
SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY

The School of Advanced Study hosted a colloquium on Jan Potocki, the Polish author of the Manuscript found at Saragossa. This colloquium did not form part of the program of the Research Project 'The Reception of British Authors in Europe', but it will be of interest to scholars of the reception process.

The cosmopolitan Polish nobleman Jan Potocki’s brilliant novel, written in French, partially published during his lifetime, was published as a whole only in 1989 (Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse (Paris: José Corti)). Widely acclaimed as a major European work, it was translated into English in 1995 by Ian Maclean (1995; Penguin 1996). Using an elaborated frame story of the ‘Arabian Nights’ type, it absorbs the new Bildungsroman and incorporates elements of the macabre, the supernatural, and the sensual from Gothic romance. The splendid film version by the well-known Polish director Wojciech Has was seen in Britain in the 1960’s, and influenced major writers who were unaware of the book. Nearly all of the critical work on the book and its author has so far been in French; we invite you to join the discussion in English. The film, The Polish original version of the film, together with a reading of the film script in English, was shown at the BFI Viewing Theater.

10.30 REGISTRATION

11.00 Dr Nina Taylor (Oxford) ‘Jan Potocki and his Polish Milieu’

11.45 Discussion

12.00 Prof. Dominique Triaire (University of Montpellier) ‘ "Le rire" dans le Manuscrit’ (The Comic Element in the Manuscript) An English translation will be available.

12.45 Discussion

13.00 LUNCH (own arrangements)

14.15 Prof. Neil Cornwell (University of Bristol) ‘The European ‘‘Nights’’ Tradition: Potocki and Odoevsky’s Russian Nights’

14.45 Discussion

15.00 Prof. François Rosset (University of Lausanne) ‘Quotation and Intertextuality: the books in the Manuscript found at Saragossa’

15.30 Discussion

15.45 TEA

16.15 Prof. Zbigniew Bialas (University of Silesia) ‘Under the Gallows of the Zoto Brothers: erotic experiences in the Polish, French and English versions’

16.45 Discussion

17.00 Prof. Ian Christie (University of Kent) 'The Film of The Saragossa Manuscript (1965): its European Reception'

17.30 Discussion

9.30 REGISTRATION

10.00 Film Showing

12.45 BREAK (own arrangements)

13.15 Discussion

14.00 END

Organiser: Dr Elinor Shaffer, F.B.A., Project Director (School of Advanced Study)

email: eshaffer@sas.ac.uk , ies@sas.ac.uk, irs@sas.ac.uk