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- Title
Katarzyna Kabacinska, “Zabawy i zabawki dzieciece w osiemnastowiecznej Polsce,” Wydawnictwo Poznanskie, Poznan 2007, s. 193, ryc. 75, bibliografia.
- Authors
Wyrobisz, Andrzej
- Abstract
This article is a review of the book, “Games and Children’s Toys in 18th-Century Poland,” written by Katarzyna Kabacinska, a work examining play and toys found in the 18th century in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The reviewer begins by noting that the author does not utilize extant primary/archival sources in her work, but rather relies heavily upon secondary sources as well as iconography (woodcuts, paintings, etc.) to examine the function of play and the toys that were common in the era of the Enlightenment. He, thus, finds the work lacking in many respects. Noted shortcomings are: Kabacinska “mechanically” accepts what others have written with respect to play/games/toys, a decision that proves detrimental to developing a true and full understanding of “play” in the time period under study (the terminology is not clear or readily understandable); she fails to posit a defined conception of what “childhood” was in this historical period and never provides a population figure concerning the number of children living in Poland at the time; the book’s bibliography contains no foreign-language works on the subject and does not include many key Polish-language works on the subject; the author’s knowledge of the Polish language is insufficient; Kabacinska fails to account for social/societal factors which influenced children’s toys and types of play/activities they engaged in at the time.
- Subjects
POLAND; KABACINSKA, Katarzyna; TOYS; POLISH history; PLAY; GAMES; NONFICTION
- Publication
Quarterly of the History of Material Culture / Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej, 2008, Vol 56, Issue 2, p247
- ISSN
0023-5881
- Publication type
Book Review