BOOKS
Resurrecting the Jew:
Nationalism, Philosemitism, and Poland's Jewish Revival
2022, Princeton University Press
“Exploring the limits of ‘empathetic cultural appropriation’ and ‘performative solidarity’ with the erased and oppressed, Zubrzycki analyzes Poland’s ‘Jewish turn’ and in the process reveals what it means to be Polish. The most thoughtful reflection on Jewish presence in Polish consciousness to date and a brilliant contribution to the cultural sociology of traumatic histories and conflicted memories.”
“[A] tour de force. . . . Zubrzycki shows us that there is still much to discover in terms of the afterlife, and the actual life, of Jews and others in the former Jewish heartlands of Europe.”
“Resurrecting the Jew should be read alongside Crosses of Auschwitz as constituting a pioneering two-volume exploration of Polish nationalism after the collapse of Soviet communism.”
Available on:
Related Interviews:
2024 — “An Interview with 2023 Wayne S. Vucinich Book Prize Winner, Geneviève Zubrzycki,” NewsNet, Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, March 21.
2023 — Jewishness and Nationalism: The Polish Kaleidoscope. An Interview with Geneviève Zubrzycki. K. Jews, Europe, the XXI Century, April 19
Beheading the Saint:
Nationalism, Religion, and Secularism in Quebec
2016, University of Chicago Press
“In Beheading the Saint, Zubrzycki offers a fascinating analysis of how French Canadians became Québécois at the speed of light. She also provides a much-needed non-reductivist analysis of the unfolding of chains of signification that transform collective identity. This book will be of great interest to an interdisciplinary audience aiming to understand the changing relationship between secularism and nationalism at the level of narratives and experiences.”
“An unprecedentedly nuanced account.”
“Zubrzycki demonstrates fluency in multiple scholarly conversations, offering a historically embedded examination of the complex ways in which the meanings of Quebecois or French Canadian modes of identification are articulated, practiced, reproduced, and subverted. . . .Beheading the Saint offers an insightful account of religion and nationalism that is teachable and exceeds the specifics of the Quebecois case.”
Available on:
En français
Jean-Baptiste décapité: Nationalisme, religion et sécularisme au Québec
2020, Boréal
Po polsku
Spokojna rewolucja. Tozsamosc narodowa, religia i sekularyzm w Quebecu
2020, Nomos
Related Interviews:
2021 — “Le membre fantôme,” Argument, Vol 23: Spring-Summer.
2020 — “Décapitation de Jean-Baptiste et mort du Canada français. Rencontre avec Geneviève Zubrzycki.” Interview led by Alexandre Poulin, Le Verbe, Fall: 96-101.
The Crosses of Auschwitz:
Nationalism and Religion in Post-Communist Poland
2006, University of Chicago Press
“By analyzing in detail the famous controversy over the crosses at Auschwitz, Zubrzycki’s book shows with great ingenuity how the meaning of ‘Polishness’ has been negotiated, debated, and fought over since the fall of state socialism. She demonstrates in convincing and authoritative fashion that this conflict was not only a dispute between Poles and Jews over the memory of Auschwitz, but also a debate among Poles about the ‘proper’ discursive establishment of Polish national identity. This will become the standard work on this extremely important topic.”
“[The] book teaches us how to practice event-focused historical and cultural sociology better than any methodological textbook could. . . . This book is not only for sociologists of religion or ethnicity, nor for the experts on Poland or Polish history, but for all who are bored with cross-tabulations and regression analysis and would like to see how qualitative methodology may be masterfully employed. Furthermore, the book is fascinating to read and hard to put away.”
“This work is grounded in the careful reading of sources, comprehensive study of literature, and careful empirical research conducted through participatory observation and personal interviews. The text is clearly structured and written with a light academic style. . . . An outstanding work of social science which is to be recommended to all students of Auschwitz, Poland, Christian-Jewish and Polish-Jewish relations, nationalism, and religion.”
Available on:
Po polsku
Krzyże w Auschwitz. Tożsamość narodowa, nacjonalizm i religia w postkomunistycznej Polsce
2014, Nomos
National Matters:
Materiality, Culture, and Nationalism
(edited volume)
2017, Stanford University Press
“‘National Matters’ brims with engrossing details, bringing together a lucid introduction and well-crafted essays into coherent conversation. Essential reading for cultural sociologists, scholars of nationalism, and students of material culture.”
Available on: