Ewa Thompson

Ewa Majewska Thompson (born 1937) is a Polish-American literary scholar, slavicist, and cultural critic. She is Professor Emerita of Slavic Studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas, where she taught from 1970 until her retirement in 2006.

A specialist in Russian literature, Central and Eastern European cultural history, and postcolonial theory, Thompson is recognized as one of the first scholars to systematically apply colonial discourse analysis to Russian imperial culture.

She is best known for her book Imperial Knowledge: Russian Literature and Colonialism (2000), which argues that Russia used literature to justify and normalize its imperial domination of neighboring nations.

She was the editor of the Sarmatian Review.

Early life and education Thompson was born in 1937 in Kovno (Kaunas), Lithuania, to a Polish family displaced by the Soviet annexation of Eastern Poland. After the Second World War, she was raised in Gdańsk, Poland, in modest circumstances that she has described as formative for her sensitivity to issues of power, exclusion, and cultural survival.

Initially trained as a pianist, Thompson studied at the Sopot Conservatory of Music, receiving an M.F.A. in 1963. In the same year, she completed a B.A. in English and Russian at the University of Warsaw. Pursuing her interest in literature and philosophy, she emigrated to the United States for doctoral study, earning a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Vanderbilt University in 1967.

Career Thompson began teaching in 1967. She held positions at Indiana State University (1967–1968), Indiana University (1968–1970), and the University of Virginia (1973–1974).

In 1970 she joined Rice University in Houston, Texas, where she remained for the bulk of her career.

She has served on editorial boards including Studies in Twentieth Century Literature, Chesterton Review, Modern Age, Intercollegiate Review, South Central Review, Znaki Czasu, and the Slavic and East European Journal.

Thompson and her late husband, mathematician James Thompson, endowed the John Paul II Institute at the University of St. Thomas in Houston with a $200,000 gift.

Research Thompson's early works compared Russian Formalism with Anglo-American New Criticism (Russian Formalism and Anglo-American New Criticism, 1971).

She later explored themes of religious irrationalism and cultural archetypes in Understanding Russia: The Holy Fool in Russian Culture (1987; revised 2001).

In April 2022, Thompson delivered a lecture titled “Non-Germanic Central Europe – Can Christian Europe Survive Without It?” at the St. John Paul II Institute of Culture at the Angelicum in Rome.

In 2023, Thompson contributed the Introduction to Paweł Włodkowic, Writings (1416–1432): The Struggle for the Self-Determination of Central Europe, published by the St. John Paul II Institute of Culture (Rome: AngelicuM University Press).

Post-colonialism Thompson's book Imperial Knowledge: Russian Literature and Colonialism was published in 2000. In it, she strongly asserted the need for revising textual practices around Russian literature that had legitimized colonial practices more brutal than what she called "canonical" colonial practices legitimated in British and French literature. She linked the silence about Russian hegemony about Central European colonies and colonial practices with a Western fascination with Russia, and subsequently with the Soviet Union. Although the book did not initially receive much recognition, it has been rediscovered and reinvigorated following the publication of Slavist Clare Cavanagh's works.

Views and commentary Thompson has written widely in both scholarly and popular venues, often linking literature, politics, and cultural survival. She has been a strong advocate of Ukrainian independence and argues that preserving Ukraine's sovereignty is essential for a free Europe.

On language and Polish identity In her “Seen from Houston” columns, Thompson has addressed debates about prepositions in Polish usage (e.g. in Ukraine vs. on Ukraine), contending that linguistic prescriptivism imposed from outside reflects cultural insecurity. She has also argued that Polish schools should unapologetically serve the function of Polonization, by teaching Polish children their national history and heritage, while allowing minorities to draw their own conclusions. 2015 – Literary Prize, Association of Polish Writers Abroad (London) 2014 – Medal of “Courage and Integrity, Polska Wielki Projekt Congress, Warsaw 2012 – Civic Achievement Award, Polish American Historical Association 2004 – W. and Nelli Turzanski Award for scholarly achievement (Toronto) 2002 – Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, awarded by President Aleksander Kwaśniewski

Selected publications

Books

Book chapters

articles