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Introduction
TeFacultyofPhilologyatUniversityofŁódźwas,untilrecently,dispersed
overthecitycentre,locatedinsmallandlargebuildings,tenementhouses,
andevensinglefloorsorflats.Walkingthroughthestreets,youcouldcomeacross
studentscarryingdictionariesandlecturernotesdiscussingOld-Polishdevotion-
alliterature.Itmadethelifeofacademiafitnicelyintotherhythmofeverydaylife,
makingŁódź-inaseeminglyparadoxicalway-similartoamedievalcity.
Beforemovingtoanewbuilding,whichwastohousetheentirefaculty,
theuniversityadministratorsdecidedtoinspecttheexistingequipmentanddis-
poseofoldandredundantitems.Sincetheywerefocusedmainlyonaudio
andvideoequipment,mycolleaguesandIdecidedtoexaminetheapparatus
keptinthedustystorerooms.Asitturnedout,acabinetlocatedinaroomused
byatechnicianfromaneophilologyinstitutehousedaZK140Treel-to-reeltape
recordertogetherwithacollectionoftapes.InthelasttwodecadesofthePol-
ishPeople’sRepublic(PPR)suchrecorderswereanimportanttoolinlanguage
teaching,sofindingonewasnotsosurprising.Becausethedevicewasworking,
weplayedsomeofthetapestosatisfyourcuriosity,and,tooursurprise,wedis-
coveredthattheywererecordingsofdiscomusicfromthe1980s.
Tiseventwillnotberecordedinthehistoryoftheuniversity,andtherewill
benotraceofitinthearchives.Maybeaconscientioushistorianwillbeabletode-
termine,afermanyyears,whatkindofequipmentwasusedbyspecificinstitutes
anddepartments,buttheywillnotbeabletolearnanythingbeyondtheirof-
cial,intendeduse,forlearninglanguagesandentertainment.However,thisfind
synthesisesnumerousimportantquestionspresentedwithinthisbook.Howdid
ithappenthatuniversityequipmentwasusedforrecordingsongsthatmostlikely
hadnodidacticapplication?Howwastherecordingmade?Didsomeonelisten
toitwhileworking?Didtheylendittosomeoneorganisingapartyandforgetto
erasethetapes?Perhapsitwassomesortoftechnicaltrialofthedevice?Further-
more,whorecordedmusicinsteadoflinguisticexercises?Weretheytechnicians
witheasyaccesstothedevice,orprofessorswhohadtheproperknow-how?Or,
werethesesongs,perhaps,recordedbystudents?Tesequestionscomposethis
book’smainresearchgoal:thatis,todiscovertherealapplicationofrevolution-
arilynewmediatechnology.
