Polish-Lithuanian Karaims: History, Culture, Language 3600-TU-KPL-OG

The aim of the classes is to acquaint students with history, language and culture of Polish-Lithuanian Karaims - an ethno-confessional group constituting the smallest officially recognized ethnic minority in Poland. Adherents of Karaite Judaism, they reject the Oral Torah (Talmud) as an authority in religious law and recognize only the Written Torah (Old Testament). It emerged as an anti-talmudic opposition in the Middle East in the 8th CE and dispersed to North Africa, Syria, Persia and Asia Minor, and further to north coasts of the Black Sea where it came into contact with Turkic speaking peoples. It lead to emergence of a population religiously belonging to Judaism and speaking a Turkic-Kipchak language. The Crimean Peninsula became their main centre. At the end of the 14th c. Grand Duke Witold resettled a group of them to Troki (Trakai), then Lithuania's capital city. With the passing of time Karaim communities emerged in Northern Lithuania (Birże, Upita, Poswól, Nowe Miasto, Poniewież i in.), Volhynia (Łuck, Ołyka, Derażno), and Red Ruthenia (Halicz, Lwów, Kukizów). At the end of the 18th century a process of forming the Karaim national identity was initiated. Today the status of Karaims as an ethnic minority is defined by the Act on National and Ethnic Minorities and Regional Language (2005).

Type of course

general courses

Mode

Blended learning
Classroom

Course coordinators

Anna Sulimowicz-Keruth

Learning outcomes

Student: K_W03 has extended knowledge of particular problems pertaining to the culture ‎of Polish-Lithuanian Karaites (within the scope of culture, history and socio-political issues)‎; K_W05 has detailed knowledge pertaining to the state of research on chosen ‎issues related to Polish-Lithuanian Karaites as well as in-depth knowledge of research ‎centres in Poland and all over the world; K_W08 demonstrates good grasp of contemporary cultural life ‎of Polish-Lithuanian Karaites‎;
K_U01 can search for, analyze, evaluate and use information from different ‎sources and can form critical judgement on its basis; K_U05 can use the knowledge in the field of Oriental studies to solve problems ‎relating to cultural differences in professional situations; K_K11 can analyze most important phenomena in the area of history, socio-‎political, linguistic or cultural situation of ‎Polish-Lithuanian Karaites‎;
K_K05 is open to new ideas and trends as well as cultural diversity ; K_K06 has awareness of the differences stemming from cultural, religious and ‎philosophical variety and their influence on shaping social and political ‎attitudes as well as economic processes; K_K08 understands and appreciates the value of tradition and cultural heritage of ‎one’s own country and of Polish-Lithuanian Karaites‎; K_K09 can see the need to enrich one’s own tradition by adding positive ‎philosophical, social and cultural values of Turkey, treats cultural synergy ‎as an added value;

Assessment criteria

Continuous assessment (50%) - preparation for the classes (reading texts chosen by the lecturer, activity (asking questions, joining the discussion); a presentation on a selected topic,
Oral examination (50%) - assessment of knowledge, skills and competence acquired by the students during classes.
Unexcused absence of the student is permissible if it does not exceed 2 classes.

Bibliography

"Awazymyz. Pismo historyczno-społeczno-kulturalne Karaimów" www.awazymyz.karaimi.org
Dubiński, Aleksander. 1994. Caraimica, Warszawa.
Gąsiorowski, Stefan. 2008 (2020). Karaimi w Koronie i na Litwie XV-XVIII w., Kraków.
Jankowski, Henryk. 2003. Position of Karaim among the Turkic languages, Studia Orientalia 95: 131-150.
Muchowski, P., Tomal, M., A. Sulimowicz, Witkowski, R., Yariv, A. 2017. The history of the Polish-Lithuanian Karaites in documents: A critical edition of selected manuscripts in Hebrew, Latin and Polish. Paris.
Kizilov, Mikhail. 2015. Sons of Scripture. Warszawa-Berlin.
Śliwka, Eugeniusz & Dubiński Aleksander. 1987. Karaimi, Pieniężno.
Sulimowicz, A..2019. Krymskokaraimskie zbiory literatury ludowej w Polsce — K. Zdebi et al. (ed.), Konserwacja Zapobiegawcza Środowiska 8 : Dziedzictwo nasze czy obce, Warszawa: 61-69.
Sulimowicz, A..2015. Działalność społeczna i edukacyjna Koła Pań Karaimskich w Haliczu. — Almanach Karaimski 2015, 4: 101–115.
Zajączkowski, Ananiasz. 1961. Karaims in Poland. Warszawa-La Haye-Paryż.

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 3600-TU-KPL-OG in USOSweb