In the present contribution the Beja botanical terminology is analyzed from the point of view of semantic motivation. The study is limited only to the unborrowed part of the botanical lexicon (with some exceptions), together 76 terms. First 51 terms are etymologized with help of external comparisons with probable cognates in other Cushitic or Afroasiatic languages. The last 25 terms are understandable from the point of view of internal etymology and their semantic motivation is more transparent than in the preceding cases.

Analytic philosophy is sometimes understood in opposition to continental tradition. In this article, I would like to show that a Lviv‑Warsaw School shared many fundamental traits with analytic orientation. In afterwar Poland, this tradition clashed with the dialectical materialism that lacks strong scientific tradition but had the full support of the communist party. This situation produced a unique scenario in which the methodology of science could strive as a mainstream area. A crucial role was attributed to the theory of history.

The focus of the article is the Vatin culture settlement at the site of Vinča-Belo Brdo in Northern Serbia. The general idea is that this settlement, whose existence was relatively short in time, benefited from being established by the Danube — a great connective factor in the world of the Middle Bronze Age. It shares many characteristics with the contemporary settlements in the southernmost part of the Carpathian basin, starting from the position in the vicinity of the Danube, at the places which had already been settled in prehistory, prior to the Middle Bronze Age. Not only do they have pottery style in common, but the wider repertoire of finds illustrating the material culture. What’s more, comparison of the material remains from Vinča with the neighbouring sites from the left Danube bank enlightens how the Vatin culture was integrated into a wider space of the Bronze Age cultures of the Carpathian basin, influencing the Balkans hinterland, too.

Polish photography in the first years after Poland regained independence remains a poorly documented area of research. Studies so far had mostly focused on the interpretation of the works of a few key artists from the avant-garde milieu (Witkacy) or photography (Jan Bułhak). It transpires however, that photography – not only as an artistic practice, but as poetic metaphor or an element of a broader aesthetic reflection – has functioned within the circle of the artistic avant-garde. An analysis of the presence of this medium in the consciousness and creativity of Polish artists allows us to see in a new light certain aspects of their technique and intellectual viewpoint. The article focuses on selected characteristics of this assimilation of modern reflection on photography by the Polish avant-garde artists in the first decade after the country regained independence. For the Formists – Tytus Czyżewski and Leon Chwistek – photography was an important point of reference as a metaphor of a new, cognitively uncertain, but also “deeper” way of seeing reality. It was an important help in defining the relationship between reality and its image and subject within a broader theoretical program (the theory of plurality of realities). For the Constructivists in turn – with Władysław Strzemiński and Mieczysław Szczuka at the forefront – photography became the means that enabled them to go beyond the usual schemes of capturing the external world, and as part of the concept of photomontage, it became a new material for creating an artistic reality. The dynamics of the process of assimilation of photography by the avant-garde artists was analysed in the context of the reception of new artistic trends born outside of Poland, primarily Futurism (the theory of photography by Anton Giulio Bragaglia) and Suprematism (reflection by Kazimierz Malewicz).

Artykuł prezentuje główny nurt refleksji metodologicznej w obszarze historii sztuki, ukształtowany w procesie recepcji filozofii krytycznego racjonalizmu Karla Poppera od lat 40. do lat 80. XX w. Kluczową rolę w tym procesie odegrały różne próby odpowiedzi na dedukcyjno-nomologiczny model wyjaśniania. Nawiązując do idei Poppera, Ernst H. Gombrich rozwinął projekt dedukcyjnej ikonologii, związany z konwencjonalistycznym ujęciem zasad przedstawiania i komunikacji obrazowej. W dialogu z poglądami Gombricha alternatywne i wzajemnie sprzeczne wersje adaptacji modelu DN na potrzeby metodycznego wyjaśniania obrazów przedstawili Oskar Bätschmann i Michael Baxandall, a Michael Fried i Norman Bryson zaproponowali przeciwstawne wersje ujęcia obrazu jako formy odpowiedzi na obiektywne i stałe co do zasady warunki początkowe kontaktu z widzem. Rozbieżność i niewspółmierność metod historii sztuki, wychodzących naprzeciw metodologii Poppera, ujawniła wpisany w nią paradoks pojęcia faktu, z jednej strony traktowanego realistycznie i przeciwstawianego teoriom, z drugiej lokowanego w zależności od perspektywy interpretacyjnej i założeń teoretycznych.