I dream of Poland becoming a modern society that is defined not by the crippling nature of history, but by our individual achievements, a sense of our own self-worth and ideas for the future.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes envisioning a future for Poland that is shaped by personal accomplishments and self-value rather than historical burdens.
Olga Tokarczuk's quote reflects a desire for Poland to evolve into a modern society that prioritizes individual achievements and a positive self-image over the constraints imposed by its historical events. It encourages a forward-looking perspective where the citizens are empowered to define their identity and future based on personal and collective aspirations rather than being overshadowed by the past. This vision champions the notion of transformation and progress through self-worth and innovation.
In practice
This quote can inspire youth during a graduation speech about their future.
But the fact is we did have colonies in the east of Poland, we did have a slave economy there. But this is not common knowledge - or part of our national myth. It goes against the current romanticised view of the government, and much of the country, that Poles have always been victims, never oppressors.
My books are not 'political.' I don't make political demands. They actually describe life. But when we look at human life, politics creeps in everywhere.
I think that first-person narration is very characteristic of contemporary optics, in which the individual performs the role of subjective center of the world.
The world is a fabric we weave daily on the great looms of information, discussions, films, books, gossip, little anecdotes.
I first read Sigmund Freud's 'Beyond the Pleasure Principle' as a young girl, and it helped me to understand that there are thousands of possible ways to interpret our experience, that everything has a meaning, and that interpretation is the key to reality. This was the first step to becoming a writer.
Well-written novels make you more empathetic towards other people. You can identify with someone who isn't you. You can change your identity. A 14-year-old boy can become Anna Karenina. It is a miracle.
Probably the single-most concrete and substantive thing an American, young American, could do to lower our carbon footprint is not turning off the lights or driving a Prius, it's having fewer kids...we'll soon see a market in baby-avoidance carbon credits similar to efforts to sell CO2 credits for avoiding deforestation.
President Kennedy has named two Negroes to District Judgeships and appointed Thurgood Marshall to the United States Court of Appeals. When I came to the Department of Justice, there were only ten Negroes employed as lawyers; not a single Negro served as a United States Attorney - or ever had in the history of the country. That has been changed.
During my youth, the idea of moving from Lebanon was unthinkable. Then I began to realise I might have to go, like my grandfather, uncles and others who left for America, Egypt, Australia, Cuba.
Change is as inexorable as time, yet nothing meets with more resistance.
We have defeated Jim Crow, but now we have to deal with his son, James Crow Jr., esquire.
When I was young, we were taught not to dunk. We were taught not to stand out from the rest of the team. It's different now.
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