INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC CONFERENCE: “A SPACE FOR ENCOUNTER: TRANSLATION – RECEPTION – TRANSFER. THE WORK OF KARL DEDECIUS ON THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH”

From 8 to 10 October 2026, Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa will host the international academic conference “A Space for Encounter: Translation - Reception - Transfer. The Work of Karl Dedecius on the 10th Anniversary of His Death”.

The event is jointly organised by Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa, the Karl Dedecius Foundation at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), the University of Wroclaw and the University of Lodz. The conference is held under the honorary patronage of the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Poland. Its organisation is co-funded by the Polish-German Foundation for Science and the Polish-German Association in Czestochowa.

Karl Dedecius, born in Lodz and one of the most distinguished translators of Polish literature into German, regarded translation as a form of intercultural encounter and a means of fostering mutual understanding. These ideas found particular expression in the work of the Deutsches Polen-Institut / German Institute for Polish Affairs in Darmstadt, which he founded and headed.

Among Karl Dedecius’s most significant achievements as a translator was the editing and translation of the monumental Polnische Bibliothek / Polish Library, a 50-volume series presenting Polish literature from the Middle Ages to the present day. He also published the seven-volume series Panorama der polnischen Literatur des 20. Jahrhunderts / Panorama of Polish Literature of the 20th Century. Dedecius was also an important theorist and critic of translation. A literary award for translators of Polish and German literature has also been named after him.

The conference will bring together 40 researchers from 14 academic institutions in Poland and abroad. During the three-day conference, scholarly discussion will focus on three main areas of research:

I. Karl Dedecius’s contribution to building a cultural community between Poland and Germany

II. Literary translation

III. Promoting knowledge of Karl Dedecius’s work and activities and of Polish-German cultural relations

The conference, which will take place in the Aula Magna of Jan Dlugosz University (13/15 Armii Krajowej), will open with a lecture by Professor Krzysztof A. Kuczyński, a leading figure in Polish German Studies and one of the scholars who helped establish German Studies in Czestochowa. His lecture is entitled “Under the Spell of the ‘Magician of Darmstadt’: More Than 30 Years of Contacts with Karl Dedecius.”

The formal opening of the conference will be enriched by a performance by students of the Feliks Fabianí Secondary School in Radomsko, which cooperates with Jan Dlugosz University. The first day of the conference will conclude with a piano concert performed by prof. Maciej Zagórski.

We warmly invite everyone interested in the life and work of Karl Dedecius, literary translation and Polish-German cultural relations to take part in the conference.