Jerzy Koch, born in Wrocław, Poland, in 1958. Ph.D. from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Tenured Professor at the University of Wrocław and Adam Mickiewicz-University, Poznań.
Fellow (1 September 2007 – 30 June 2008)
THE HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICAN LITERATURE – AFRIKAANS LITERATURE. 20TH CENTURY
I judge my stay at NIAS in 2007/08 to have been very fruitful. Thanks to an excellent work atmosphere, the good organisation of the institute as well as an effectively operating library I was able to realise my academic plans. I wrote an article for a specialist academic journal devoted to the nineteenth century Dutch author Douwes Dekker (a.k.a. Multatuli) Over Multatuli. The preparation of this paper, which appeared at the beginning of 2008 under the title “Het wel en wee van de receptie. De ontvangst van Multatuli in Polen” (Over Multatuli 60 [2008], p. 20-47), was made possible by my having access to sources in the Netherlands.
Next I busied myself preparing a book entitled Wenus Hotentocka i inne rozprawy o literaturze poł udniowoafrykańskiej [The Hottentot Venus and other Essays about South African Literature], which began as an offshoot of my principle project at NIAS, namely a history of South African literature of the twentieth century.
During my fellowship I likewise continued many activities connected with my work in Poland, including editing the latest issue of the academic journal Werkwinkel. Journal of Low Countries and South African Studies, of which I am the editor in chief. During my fellowship at NIAS I gave several lectures and presented papers in the Netherlands (Leiden), Belgium (Gent) as well as South Africa (Stellenbosch).