Murzynek Bambo

"Murzynek Bambo" (Bambo the black child) is a children's poem by Polish Jewish author Julian Tuwim (September 1894 – December 1953), written in 1934.[1] It is about a little black boy called Bambo, who lives in Africa.

The poem is sixteen lines long, arranged in eight rhyming couplets. It tells the story of Bambo, a young black African child, who diligently studies in an African school. When he returns home, he fools around and is told off by his mother. He reacts by frowning. When offered milk by his mother, he runs off and climbs a tree. His mother tells him to have a bath, but he is afraid that he will whiten. His mother loves him though. The poem ends by saying that it is a pity that "black, happy Bambo" doesn't go to school with us.

Meaning of Murzynek

The poem refers to Bambo as Murzynek, the diminutive form of Murzyn. Murzynek can be translated into English in a variety of ways, such as "black child" or "little Negro". The word "Murzyn", which in the opinion of many Poles, including academics, is not offensive, is seen by some black people as discriminatory and derogatory.[2] The word was derived from borrowing the German word Mohr, which derived from Latin maurus, similar to the English word 'moor'.

Analysis

The poem is familiar to the most of Polish children.[3] The poem was written to teach Polish kids tolerance towards black children, showing they are not different then their Polish counterparts.[4] It was accused in 21st century of promoting a stereotypical and demeaning view of Africans.[2][3] In the opinion of Margaret Ohia,[5] who researched racism in the Polish language at the University of California, the protagonist of the poem is presented as inferior to the presumably white reader.[6] The phrase Murzynek Bambo is often used in children's name-calling when the target is a black child.[3][6]

Others argue that the poem should be seen in the context of its time, and that commentators should not go overboard in analysing it.[7] A journalist Adam Kowalczyk says that he "did not become a racist" because of reading the poem.[8] A reader of Gazeta Wyborcza, Ewa Trzeszczkowska, describes in a letter how she identifies with Bambo: "For me, this work was and is a cheerful story about a naughty boy from a distant, exotic country, that, although so distant – both the country and the boy – is also similar to me. He has a joy of life which is expressed, amongst other ways, in the climbing of the trees (I climbed them too), and has a slight note of defiance, independence, liberty. Which was and is close to me!" She writes that she does not suspect "the author of these words of bad intentions", though she admits feeling discomfort reading that Bambo fears baths because he might become white.[9]

See also

References
  1. Maciej Tramer, "Bambo zrobił swoje", Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Litteraria Polonica, vol. 26, issue 4, 2014, pp.149-160 (in Polish)
    • Quote: Jego pierwsza prezentacja nastąpiła rok wcześniej [1934] w "Czytance dla II klasy szkół powszechnych miejskich" opracowanej przez Mariana Falskiego
  2. Piróg, Patrycja (2010). ""Murzynek Bambo w Afryce mieszka", czyli jak polska kultura stworzyła swojego "Murzyna"". OPPOSite.
  3. Czy "Murzynek Bambo" obraża Afrykanów?, Gazeta.pl (in Polish)
  4. https://kurierhistoryczny.pl/artykul/czy-murzynek-bambo-jest-wierszem-rasistowskim,638
  5. Note: Margaret Amaka Ohia-Nowak, Poland-born of Polish mother and Nigerian father, linguist, polonist, Ph.D in Polish philology, thesis "Językowe mechanizmy dyskryminacji rasowej" [Linguistic Mechanisms of Racial Discrimination]
  6. "Uwiera mnie Murzynek Bambo". wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  7. Murzynek Bambo dla licealistów? Archived 2012-03-27 at the Wayback Machine, Colemi.pl (in Polish)
  8. Huckleberry Finn a Murzynek Bambo, Debata.olsztyn.pl (in Polish)
  9. O Murzynku Bambo raz jeszcze – list, Wyborcza.pl (in Polish)
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