PROFIL PRACOWNIKA: Andrzej Wicher

I am a senior lecturer in the history of English literature and theory of literature in the Institute of English Studies of the University of Łódź (Lodz). In 1978, I graduated from the English Department of the University of Silesia in Katowice, and, in 1986, I was awarded the academic degree of a Doctor of the Humanities. Then I published a book entitled Archaeology of the Sublime. Studies in Late - Medieval English Writings (Katowice 1995), on the basis of which he was awarded a postdoctoral degree, and, finally, in 2005 I acquired the title of a full professor, in connection with his book Shakespeare's Parting Wondertales - a Study of the Elements of the Tale of Magic in William Shakespeare's Late Plays (Łódź 2003). In 2013 I published a book entitled Selected Medieval and Religious Themes in the Works of C.S.Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkien. I also translated some Middle English poems, including Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, into Polish.

My professional interests include Medieval and Renaissance studies (including the works of G.Chaucer and W.Shakespeare), and modern fantasy literature (J.R.R.Tolkien and C.S.Lewis in particular), with a special emphasis on the presence of folktale motifs in the works of literature representing various historical periods and literary genres.

The most important publications:

1) A Discussion of the Archetype of the Supernatural Husband and the Supernatural Wife as It Appears in some of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales"j, 42 pages, pp. 19 - 60, in ed.. Herbert Grabes, Hans-Jürgen Diller "REAL" (Yearbook of Research in English and American Literature), vol. 7, Gunter Narr Verlag: Tübingen 1990 (a long article based on the doctoral dissertation, 42 pp.).

2) Archeology of the Sublime, Studies in Late-Medieval English Writings - 236 pages, published by Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego: Katowice 1995 (a habilitation dissertation, 236 pp.).

3) J.R.R. Tolkien, Pan Gawen i Zielony Rycerz, Perła, Król Orfeo, translator: Andrzej Wicher – 232 pages, published by Wydawnictwo Amber: Warszawa 1997 (a translation into Polish of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Pearl, and Sir Orfeo – based on a modernized version by J.R.R.Tolkien).

4) Shakespeare’s Parting Wondertales: A Study of the Elements of the Tale of Magic in William Shakespeare’s Late Plays – 159 pages, published by Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego: Łódź 2003 (a book).

5) Selected Medieval andReligious Themes in the Works of C.S.Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkien – 320 pages, published by Wydawnictwo Łódzkiego Towarzystwa Naukowego, Łódź 2013 (a book).