"Kintsugi" na lektoracie jpjo, czyli o poszukiwaniu piękna w niedoskonałości – propozycja glottodydaktyczna do realizacji wybranych Celów Zrównoważonego Rozwoju
"Kintsugi" in Polish as a Foreign Language Classes: Searching for Beauty in Imperfection – a Glottodidactic Proposal for the Implementation of Selected Sustainable Development Goals

Author(s): Anna Rabczuk
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals (SDG); kintsugi; Polish as a foreign language; education; diversity; rites of passage; Joanna Bator
Summary/Abstract: The Sustainable Development Goals include tasks aimed at improving life in the most important areas of human activity. Their implementation is necessary for the present and future generations to be able to use the broadly understood resources of the Earth in sustainable and conscientious ways, to enjoy a good quality of life, to support each other and create equal opportunities. The article attempts to answer the question of whether Polish as a foreign language can become a pretext for the implementation of selected Sustainable Development Goals. The article analyzes the assumptions included in the 2030 Agenda, and then focuses on those tasks aimed at “transforming our world”, which may function as inspirations toward the creation of didactic materials on language courses. It also explores the selected criteria for choosing a literary text for classes consisting of foreigners. After strictly theoretical considerations, the author refers to the classical theories of ‘the rites of passage’ explored by Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner. These theories become a germane tool for describing the condition of a person who leaves his/her country in order to live in a new culture and create his/her identity anew. We can observe such stages in the life of the main character of Joanna Bator’s novel “Purezento”. Certain fragments from the text – particularly those devoted to kintsugi – the Japanese art of repairing ceramics, and in the metaphorical sense the art of filling scars with gold, transforming trauma into beauty, become an inspiration for the author to pursue the Sustainable Development Goals in Polish classes with foreigners. In addition, she suggests a number of tasks that may be used for students working at C1 level.

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