dr hab. Mirosław Miernik


Department of North American Cultures and Literatures

associate professor

Room number: 3.239

email: m.a.miernik@uw.edu.pl

  Office hours: 2023/2024 - sabbatical
dr hab. Mirosław Miernik

Degrees

M.A., University of Warsaw, 2005

Ph.D., University of Warsaw, 2011

Habilitation, University of Warsaw, 2022


Research interests and projects

  • Consumer culture in the US
  • Everyday life and popular Culture of the United States in the 20th century
  • 20th/21st century American literature
  • Subcultural studies
  • The life and works of Frederick William Rolfe


Selected publications

Books

Miernik, M. A. (2021). Rethinking Fiction after the 2007/8 Financial Crisis: Consumption, Economics, and the American Dream. Abingdon and New York: Routledge

Miernik, M. A. (2015). Rolfe, Rose, Corvo, Crabbe: the Literary Images of Frederick Rolfe. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

Miernik, M. A., Skurowski, P. (2009) Selected Papers in British and American Licterature and Culture. Warszawa: Instytut Anglistyki UW.

Chapters

Miernik, M. A. (2023). Optymistycznie krocząc ku prekaryzacji. Krytyka praktyk neoliberalnego Kapitalizmu w Hologramie dla Króla. Julia Nikiel (ed) Dave Eggers, p. 115-134. Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytatu Warszawskiego.

Miernik, M. A. (2019). Turmoil and Change: A View at the Legacy of the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis and Great Recession. I. Kimak i J.Nikiel (Red.). Exhaustion and Regeneration in Post-Millennial North-American Literature and Culture. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang

Miernik, M. A. (2019).Sprzedali się! Kwestia komercji w kontekście muzyki rockowej. Zarys problemu. J. Osiński , M. Pranke , A. Szwagrzyk i P. Tański (Red.). Kultura Rocka 3: Tradycje, Poszukiwania, Kontynuacje (3). (s. 90-102). Toruń: Koło Lektury Filologiczno-Filozoficznej Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu.

Miernik, M. A. (2016). 51. stan. Wizerunek USA w Twórczości New Model Army. In J. Osiński , M. Pranke , A. Szwagrzyk & P. Tański (Eds.). Kultura rocka. Twórcy - tematy - motywy (2). (pp. 218-229). Toruń: Koło Lektury Filologiczno-Filozoficznej Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu.

Miernik, M. (2016). Hipsterzy, beaci i bitnicy: o subkulturowych korzeniach Beat Generation. In M. Paryż (Ed.). Bitnicy. (pp. 25-44). Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego.

Miernik, M. (2016). “Everybody knows that the game was rigged”: Protests against the War on Terror in the Work of Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Tom Waits. In A. Gilroy & M. Messmer (Eds.). America: Justice, Conflict, War. (pp. 171-188). Heidelberg: Winter Verlag.

Miernik, M. (2015). Od Gotyku do Dark Independent. O rozwoju subkultury gotyckiej w Polsce po roku 1999. In J. Osiński , M. Pranke , A. Szwagrzyk & P. Tański (Eds.). Kultura rocka. Twórcy - tematy - motywy (1). (pp. 200-211). Toruń: Koło Lektury Filologiczno-Filozoficznej Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu.

Miernik, M. A. (2015). The Problem of Deviance in Subcultural Studies. In L. Krawczyk-Żywko (Ed.). Exploring History: British Culture and Society 1700 to the Present. Essays in Honour of Professor Emma Harris. (pp. 113-124). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

Miernik, M. A. (2014). Between Audacity and Convention: a Reassessment of Frederick Rolfe's Fiction. In G. Bystydzieńska & E. Harris (Eds.). From Queen Anne to Queen Victoria. Readings in 18th and 19th century British literature and culture. Vol. 4. (pp. 343-351). Warszawa: Uniwersytet Warszawski, Ośrodek Studiów Brytyjskich.

Articles

Miernik, M. (2018). Whaddya Rebellin' Against? Youth Rebellion and Domesticity in The Wild One and Rebel Without a Cause. KULTURA POPULARNA, 4, (s. 68-76).

Miernik, M. (2017). Capitalism as a Cultural System: In Memory of Joyce Appleby. Polish Journal for American Studies, 11, (pp. 223-230).

Miernik, M. A. (2015). A Vicious Circle: How Canon Continues to Reinforce Sex Segregation in Literature in the 21st century. Acta Philologica, (pp. 85-96).

Miernik, M. A. (2013). A Taxonomy of Fame: A Semiotic Approach. Acta Philologica, 43, (pp. 13-20).

Miernik, M. A. (2013). The Evolution of Emo and Its Theoretical Implications. Polish Journal for American Studies, 7, (pp. 175-188).

Older publications can be found on the complete list in PBN


Conferences

Conferences

25-27 October 2023. Conference of the Polish Association for American Studies. Presentation title: “Puritans and Snobs: Conflict Between the Urban and the Provincial in the works of Elizabeth Strout.”

20-22 September 2023. Queen Anne to Queen Victoria biannual convference. Presentation title: “George Arthur Rose’s “Altruistic Individualism” in Frederick Rolfe’s Hadrian the Seventh

19-21 October 2022. Conference of the Polish Association for American Studies. Presentation title: “Dismantling the American Dream from the Inside: Dave Eggers A Hologram for the King.”

30 April - 2 May 2021, Warsaw. European Association for American Studies Conference "20/20 Vision: Citizenship, Space, Renewal". Presentation: „Of Structural Integrity and Individual Failings: Why American Cultural Texts Fail in Their Criticisms of the Wealthy”.

24 May 2019. Lublin. Instytut Filologii Angielskiej KUL. Texts10 Conference. Presentation: "Rethinking Subcultural Theory: Age, Leisure, and Consumption".

7 December 2018. Lublin. Instytut Filologii Angielskiej KUL. Texts9 Conference. Presentation: „A Conscience for the Filthy Rich? Morals and Money in Jonathan Dee’s The Privileges and Adam Haslett’s Union Atlantic.

10-11 May 2018. Lublin. Wydział Humanistyczny UMCS. "ExRe(y) 2018: Exhaustion and Regeneration in Post-Millenial North American LIterature and Visual Culture". Presentation "Turmoil and Change: A View at the Legacy of the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis and Great Recession".

19-20 April 2017. Toruń. Wydział Filologiczny Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika. "Kultura Rocka: Tradycja – Poszukiwania – Kontynuacje", Presentation: "Sprzedali się! Kwestia komercji w kontekście muzyki rockowej. Zarys problemu." [They Sold Out!: The Question of Commodofication in the Context of Rock Music]

October 2016. Warsaw. Polish Association for American Studies Conference, Presentation: “Good Market, Bad Market: The Discussion of Consumer Culture and American Ideology in Texts of Culture”

April 2016. Constanca, Romania. European Association for American Studies Biennial Conference. Presentation: “Between the Body and Dystopia: The Interplay of Free Will and Authoritative Power William Gibson‘s The Peripheral”

March 2016. Toruń. Wydział Filologiczny Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika. “Kultura Rocka 2. Słowo-dźwięk-performance.” Presentation: "51. Stan. Wizerunek USA w twórczości New Model Army” [The 51st State. The image of the United States in the songs of New Model Army]

September 2015. Warszawa. Polish Association for American Studies Conference, Presentation: “Youth Rebellion and Domesticity in The Wild One and Rebel Without a Cause.”

Kwiecień 2015. Toruń, Wydział Filologiczny Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika. “Kultura Rocka. Twórcy-tematy-motywy”. Presentation: "Od Gotyku do Dark Independent. O rozwoju subkultury gotyckiej w Polsce po roku 1999." [From Goth to Dark Independent: On the cevelopment of the Goth Subculture in Poland After 1999].

December 2014. Gdańsk, Wydział Filologiczny Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego. ‘Why are there no great women writers? And more questions on CANON,’ Presentation: “A Vicious Circle: How Canon Reinforces Sex Segregation in Literature.”

April 2014. The Hague, European Association for American Studies Biennial Conference, Presentation: “The War on Terror as Presented and Criticized by Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, and Tom Waits”

September 2013. Warsaw, Centre For British Studish at the University of Warsaw: “From Queen Anne to Queen Victoria: Readings in 18th and 19th century British literature and culture,” Presentation: “Between Audacity and Convention: a Reassessment of Frederick Rolfe’s fiction.”

April 2011. Kraków, Jagielonian University, April Conference 12, “Languages, Literatures and Cultures in Contact: English and American Studies in the Age of Global Communication,” Presentation: “A Special Plan for the World. The Politics of Frederick Rolfe's Hadrian the Seventh

October 2008, Warsaw. Polish Association fro American Studies Conference, presentation: “Zeitgeist, Change, and Subculture: The Case of Emo”

December 2007 Head organizer of the international conference "British and American Literature and Culture"

November 2007, Łódź. Polish Association for American Studies Conference, Presentation: “The Message is the Massage – Rethinking Marshall McLuhan's Theories in the Age of New Media”

October 2007. Kraków, Jagiellonian University. “Tożsamość Kulturoznawstwa”, presentation: “Nadinterpretacje i metafory – analiza porównawcza błędów popełnianych w dziedzinie kulturoznawstwa” [Overinterpretation and Metaphores: A comparative abnalysis of the common mistakes found in the field of Cultural Studies]

May 2004. Co-organizer of the "Kultura-Subkultura-Kontrkultura" conference; presentation: “Radykalizacja ruchów lewicowych na przykładzie RAF" [The Radicalisation of Left Wing Youth Movement on the Example of the RAF]


Other

JFK Institute Research Grant (2016)

EAAS 2016 Conference Travel Grant

Rector's Financing of Rolfe, Rose, Corvo, Crabbe. (decision no. BOB 661-36/2014)

Additional financing form Selected Papers;

Popularization:

20.11.2019 OFF Czarek at Tok.fm radio station. Discussion on interplay between authetnicity and commercialism in rock music.

3.06.2019 Visit at Kamila Krzysztofa Baczyńskiego highschool and vocational schoolin Warsaw. Lesson topic: From New Amsterdam to New York.

Coordinator of the UW Science Festival at the Institute of English Studies in 2018.

29.05.2018 Visit at Kamila Krzysztofa Baczyńskiego highschool and vocational school in Warsaw. Lesson topics:
„How the construction of Houses in the US was Influenced by Expansion into the Continent”
„The development of retail before the 20th Century”
„The popularization of the automobile and its social impact”

12.12.2017: Visit at José Martí highschool. Lesson topic: The impact of new technologies and consumer goods on the 1920s” oraz „The popular culture of the Jazz Age.

29.9.2017 UW Science Festival: „Puste przestrzenie i wielkie miasta. O Geografii Kulturowej USA” (Empty Streches of Land)

Coordinator of the UW Science Festival at the Institute of English Studies in 2018.

17.1.2017: Visit at CX LO im. Roberta Schumana in Warsaw. Lesson Topic: „Interstate Transportation in the United States”

Coordinator of the UW Science Festival at the Institute of English Studies in 2017.

13.12.2016 „Radiogrzałka”, Radio Żak. Discussion of the subcultural elements in the culture of Beats and Hipsters.

UW Science Festival 2016. Presentations: "Pieniądze w Ameryce” [Money in America]; "Ten okropny Baron Corvo" [The Unspeakable Baron Corvo]

Coordinator of the UW Science Festival at the Institute of English Studies in 2016.

7 May 2016: Visit at the LVIII K. K. Baczyński Highschool, lesson topic: Historia prohibicji w Stanach Zjednoczonych i jej skutki społeczne (dwa spotkania).

8 March 2015: Visit at the CX im. Robert Schuman Highschool. Lesson topic: “How the early technological innovations of the 20th century influenced American culture”.

UW Science Festival 2015 „Życie Codzienne w USA w Latach 20. XX w.”

Coordinator of the UW Science Festival at the Institute of English Studies in 2015.

6 March 2015: Visit at LVIII K. K. Baczyński Highschool, Lesson topic: "Technologia a zmiany społeczne w USA w latach 20. XX w."

Manchester Metropolitan University, Cheshire Campus: International Academic week in Feb. 2015. lectures conducted:

  • Nationhood, Ethnicity and Identity In a Postcolonial World

  • The Social Background of US Cinema in the 1930s

  • On the Importance of Critical Theory

UW Science Festival 2014: Music as a social Reaction in the US and UK

Coordinator of the UW Science Festival at the Institute of English Studies in 2014.

23 May 2014: visit at XLIV Antoni Dobiszewski Highschool: Lesson topic.: "Reakcja trzech wybranych amerykańskich artystów na inwazję Iraku w 2003 r."

26 May 2014: Visit at LVIII K. K. Baczyński Highschool: „Kulturowe role ubrań w życiu codziennym”

8 July 2014: Discussion (with mgr Katarzyna Kłosińska) "The Rebel's Causes: Domestic and social conflicts in the 1950s on the example of "Rebel Without a Cause" done in collaboration with the Open University of the University of Warsaw and Filmowa Stolica

25. IX.2013 „Rozmowy po zmroku”, Second Program of the Polish Radio, discussion on the role of the British Royal Family.

UW Science Festival 2013: Między Smokingiem i Agrafką [between the tuxedo and a safety pin: the anthopology and semiotics of clothing]

Coordinator of the UW Science Festival at the Institute of English Studies in 2014.