LIFE CHOICES READ OUT FROM THE EDITIONS. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TWO EDITIONS OF THE NOVEL KSIĄDZ PLEBAN BY JÓZEF KOSSAKOWSKI

Changes made in the second edition of the novel Ksiądz Pleban may be a reflection of processes occurring in the years 1786–1788 in the biography of Kossakowski, i.e. departing from the royal camp and a gradual approach to the environment associated with the russian ambassador. They were associated with unsuccessful efforts to acquire Kossakowski more profitable bishopric than his livonian. The purpose of the presentation is to attempt to explain the changes introduced by the author in the context of the political decisions made by him.

TREMBECKI HIDDEN UNDER THE NAME BIELAWSKI

Trembecki was not only a participant, but an animator of specific literary, social and sociable game, the essence of which consisted of mystification. The game uses the figure of mediocre poet, Józef Bielawski, posting under his name works with most varied content. The paper presents a poetic dimension to this fun, which the results were included in the Trembecki’s text editions under the name Bielawski.

EXAGGERATED BIOGRAPHISM OR HIDDEN TRUTH? AUTHOR’S EXPERIENCE ECHOES IN DUSZE W NIEWOLI, LALKA AND DZIECI BY BOLESŁAW PRUS

Commonly known is case of dispute Prus with students who were not able to accept, as expressed by him in “Nowiny”, criticism of their behaviour on Włodzimierz Spasowicz lecture about Wincenty Pol and they reacted in physical attack on the writer (March 26, 1878). These events took place at a time when Prus was collecting materials for Lalka.

If you look at similar events, full of emotions and perhaps too exaggerated by both sides, in retrospect, you can then find some interesting evidence, as sometimes very complex is human memory that stores, as it were “pickled” in the consciousness (and unconscious) human experience, especially traumatic, which one would like to, but still can not forget. Suffered pains affects an act of artistic creation (sometimes fairly significantly), and co–create it.

In the autumn of his life, for example, the author of Lalka had health problems, like the heroes of his latest novel, Dzieci (published in book form in 1909), subjected to treatment, been taking various medications. How many heroes of books by Prus wear glasses or participates in a duel, which brings to mind episodes from the life of a writer?

The novel can become a kind of projection of the author’s personal experiences, the sum of all fears and often painful experiences. You can find in it artistically veiled and processed threads from his biography.

HIDING MYSELF AT THE BOTTOM… AXIOLOGICAL–BIOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT FOR RODZINA POŁANIECKICH BY HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ

The interpretation of metatextual levels of Henryk Sienkiewicz’s Rodzina Połanieckich is possible in at least two perspectives: biographical and axiological. First proves the subjection of written word to personal experience involving mind of author. It lets to extract facts from the text, which build the satirical portrait with the sharp signs of grotesque. Second one – gives the basics to defend the novel as a literary work. Because it reveals protection of dogmatic values included in the triad: God, owned lands, family — directed against axiological vacuum of decadency.

POETS OF “BRULION” — PROTESTERS OR MORALISTS? ON THE BASIS OF FIRST PUBLICATION SO–CALLED “VIOLET SERIES”

The text is an attempt to present the main strategies of autopresentations poets formation “bruLion” and their relationship to the world, tradition and poetry, revealing in the way of imaging and stylistics. The starting point for discussion is proposed by Andrzej Szahaj thesis of the alternation of serious culture (whose hero is the “priest–ascetic“) and carnival culture (with a main figure, “the philosopher–jester”), declaring postmodernity as a time of carnivalesque culture, anarchic freedom, polyphonic, eclecticism, irony and rebellion.

In the poems of Marcin Świetlicki and his contemporaries, mainly Grzegorz Wróblewski, Marcin Sendecki, Krzysztof Jaworski, have been traced typical for clownish attitude manifestations of artistic rebellion, distrust of all institutions and authority, disagreement on the ideological literature, protest, provocations, mockery, iconoclasm.

In addition to this most distinctive and widely commented “barbaric” and “wild” variant of “bruLion” poetry in the works of some of the representatives of the formation, primarily by Marcin Baran, Jakub Ekier and Paweł Filas, you can also find elements of the strategy of priests (sometimes shamanic), reserved by Andrzej Szahaj for serious culture, characterized the search for ontological and axiological Certainty and Truth.

Sketch shows and analyzes examples of just such a — less recognized and less expected — attitude of “bruLionowcy” claiming values violated by the modern world, looking in the postmodernic magma and cultural diversity for some enlightenment, right behind him, usually unidentified and unavoidable to articulate meaning.

„IT ALL BEGAN WITH MY PRESENCE.” SECRET MESSAGE OF PROSE OF ANDRZEJ STASIUK

The first novel by Stasiuk not yet announcing the birth of the sensitive, immune to schemes, still outspoken writer in Europe. Starting from Dukla philosophical context for work of Stasiuk increases with every published book. In his vision the Central European existence has been stigmatized by history, marked by loss, limited mentally, ragged with anxiety, ambiguous and stretched between the mystery and the surface of matter. Domestication of alienation associates with the crossing of borders, especially the ethnic borders. The author believes that we lived and apparently we still live as fictitious entities. Being at home means staying in an idealized past. He concludes, “we can never accept ourselves as we are”. Lack of acceptance creates frustration and anxiety. Loneliness, alienation, anxiety is the fundamental attributes of the ontology Andrzej Stasiuk. A writer struggling with the physicality of existence, the concepts of “selfhood” and “being”, trying in his “personal heresy” to solve the secret of existence.

CIPHER IN THE WORLD OF LOVE CONFESSION — CONDITIONINGS AND FUNCTIONS (IN THE OLD LIST AND DIARY)

The paper is devoted to analyzing the phenomenon of the cipher, which appears in the Old Polish correspondence and diary prose. The analysis will turn in the direction of texts written by persons involved in hidden amorous relationships, objectionable from the point of view the official social norms, given the fact that the lovers commit treason against wedded partners. Letters by Sobieski and Marysienka served as a starting point and then reflection also included correspondence from Magdalena Czapska and Hieronim Florian Radziwiłł. Due to a distinct species convention, somewhat different perspective has appointed diary of enamored Jan Krzysztof Biegański.

Considerations apply to both the nature of ciphers used in these texts, as well as the causes and functions of their use which, despite appearances, did not involve only with the need to hide a sinful relationship. The issue of readability of encrypted texts and the ability to discover covert meanings has also been raised.

CIPHER, CODE AND CONVENTION. OLD POLISH WAYS OF “SPEAKING MYTHOLOGY”

Using mythological tradition is one of the ways of enrichment the semantic level of old literature. Partially it is caused by entire nature of myths which from ancient times were interpreted as plots consisting additional, hidden senses. Allegoreze, popular especially in Mediaeval Ages, has an influence on ways of adaptating and using mythologisms in Mediaeval and Reinessance literature. Motifs and characteres appear in texts of Old Polish literature most usually with allegorical “background”. Same of that allegories have universal character (being a result of searching in myths some general truths), the others, as a result of adaptation ancient themes to Christian worldview, have lost their currency yet still play an important role in understanding texts of culture.

Notions of “cipher”, code and convention, that are used in the article, mean ways of making use of mythology in Old Polish texts: from hiding specific information under the layer of literal meaning (e.g. bucolics of Szymonowic and Bartłomiej Zimorowic), by enriching text with cultural allusions (for example in poetic letters), to conventional using, in which mythologism has mainly ornamental function.

ENLIGHTENMENT POLITICAL REBUS. ABOUT THE HIDDEN IN ACROSTICS NAMES OF COMMANDERS OF TARGOWICA

Acrostics, works belonging to the mainstream of artistic poetry, were particularly popular in the Middle Ages and the Baroque era, but also enjoyed success in other periods of literature. The simplest form of this statement was to enter author’s personal data in the work, but there were more complex literary puzzles, such as logogryf in which the syllables of words are read from the hidden content. Many acrostics include elaborately arranged compliments (e.g. titles of recipients), thanks, greetings, requests, etc., and even insults. Being the subject of this study acrostics relate to commanders of Targowica — Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki and Szymon Marcin Kossakowski. Attractive form of text, most likely was an incentive to read, and perhaps made it easier to memorize rhymes. Although the poems themselves were not outstanding, they can capture images of traitors in a slightly different way than usual: short, more interesting and quite ingeniously, which resulted from the same assumptions of the genre.

LITERATURE AND THE STRATEGY — ACCOUNTS OF THE WAR OF 1920 BY STANISŁAW REMBEK, EUGENIUSZ MAŁACZEWSKI AND ISAAK BABEL

The text is a reflection on the relationship between the way of war (strategy, tactics, morale of the army, the rhetoric of propaganda used in accounts of its subject) and the techniques and the broader, cultural, literary and sociological connotations of “reports” from the battlefield.

The object of research is the work of these writers „bataliści” (in the broad sense, meaning the presenting of war events and their interpretation), in particular — the difference in the description of the same struggle, viewed from different (opposing) perspectives. Article seeks to discuss among other issues concerning the reflection of strategy individual line units involved in the struggle in the literary descriptions of these battles. The hidden premise of interpretation is raised by the theory of gender and feminist literary history conviction about the relationship between narrative and the war (Iliada), typical for the patriarchal cultural formation.

CONRAD AND ARENDT. REVEALING THE ROOTS OF EVIL

Titles of major works of both writers point to the effort of revealing the most difficult and most secret knowledge of evil. Hannah Arendt, trying to dig out the roots (or rather the beginnings) of totalitarianism, follows the Joseph Conrad as an explorer of kernel (more precisely: heart) of darkness. And when later, Arendt embarks on a journey to Jerusalem to participate in the Eichmann trial, like Conrad’s Marlow, she is fascinated by tales of a strong man, because she expects to see someone undoubtedly bad, but also great. Meanwhile, reveals “banality of evil” and this category is worth to refer to the case of Kurtz in Conrad’s story. The attacks of critics on Eichmann in Jerusalem, and Heart of Darkness, based on allegations of humiliation of victims and suggesting their participation in the crime, also contain interesting parallels.

“THE OTHER FABRIC”. EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT IN THE PREFACES BY JOSEPH CONRAD

In preface Przedmowa bez ceremonii to the „autobiographical” volume Ze wspomnień, Joseph Conrad provides that, in this work, there is no „veil” separating the reader from the author. Despite this declaration, Conrad’s „memories” goes beyond autobiography and you can risk the thesis that all „autobiographical” texts are rather telling — in the idiomatic way — not about a man but cultural contexts, which formed him.

Conrad’s paratexts (the famous preface to Murzyn z załogi Narcyza, mentioned Przedmowa bez ceremonii and Noty autora written by Conrad for subsequent volumes of his works in the period 1917–1920) make an even greater problem of interpretation. They contain not only the artistic statements, but also a surprising “autobiographical” reference and “guidance” of interpretation — that really explains very little and seem to talk about something else.

It is difficult to treat Conrad’s paratexts as autobiographical texts (though they often pretend to be); in turn proposal of seeing in them “author function” in the classic form, indicated by Michel Foucault, also appears to be incomplete, because these paratexts simultaneously create author and his cultural context and literary craftsmanship. It seems, therefore, that Conrad considered his paratexts (especially Noty autora) as a separate literary genre, in accordance with the instructions of Kierkegaard.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ALLEGORICAL PAINTING AND POETIC INTERPRETATION OF REALITY IN SOME OLD POLISH EMBLEMS

Emblem as a genre composed of words and images is an extremely interesting research object. Hidden in the allegorical picture content is being developed and read in two stages: the inscription — which is often quote (taken out of the works of well–known authors), and signature — presenting the author’s thoughts about the complexity of the world, human and their physical and metaphysical relationships. Article shows how the allegorical picture hides or reveals creator’s reflections, how the correlation between words and ideas with the image looks like, as well as legibility (or illegibility) of artistic vision in itself helps (and whether it helps) in the interpretation of the text. Also tries to answer the question of whether and how in today’s “pictorial culture”, the young recipient is able to read and interpret old Polish emblems.

EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT JUDGMENTS ABOUT REALITY IN THE PISMA FROM THE YEARS 1608–1625 BY JAN DZWONOWSKI

The article analyses the relationship between the concepts: “censorship”, “taboo” and “shame” on the material taken from the reading of censorship reports from the years 1948–1958.

The paper examines selected texts of Jan Dzwonowski, seventeenth–century writer, considered by some scholars as the picaresque (pol. „sowizdrzalski”) author. The author of Sejm albo konstytucje domowe and Statut… speaks in a satirical, irreverent way, not only about the nearest seventeenth–century plebeian surroundings (minstrel’s family and living environment) as implied by the literal, superficial reading of his works. A deeper analysis of texts allows us to find some ironic statements of subject — jester, who not only mercilessly exposes the true nature of man, but also reveals the sad truth about the laws and institutions created by human society.

EXPLICIT PARAGRAPHS AND IMPLICIT MANNERS. ABOUT SOME OF THE FORGOTTEN REALITIES IN NINETEENTH–CENTURY NOVEL

The text is an analysis of the polish novel of the second half of the nineteenth century in the context of being in force in the Kingdom of Poland selected regulations and codes of behavior.

Legal solutions, especially in the field of family law and succession law, based primarily on the Code Napoleon, as well as established norms, reflected in the recommendations of savoir–vivre guides had a significant influence on the situation of women and the relationships between family members. These realities are often not noticed by the today’s reader and may have a significant impact on the interpretation of the behaviour of the characters in selected novels by Kraszewski (Szalona), Rodziewiczówna (Czahary), Prus (Lalka, Emancypantki), Sienkiewicz (Rodzina Połanieckich) and Zapolska (Fin–de–siecle’istka).

LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF LIFE OF ACTRESSES IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY UNDER THE PEN OF GABRIELA ZAPOLSKA

At the turn of the century theater scene was a dream of many people. Popularized by all means the myth of the stars radiant with halo of fame pushes in the shadow carded everyday life. Despite evidence of the cult actress profession widely considered to be humiliating, degrading, and above all immoral.

The modernist breakthrough in Polish theater was largely the work of artists of the marginalized social structures. Gabriela Zapolska — woman marked by family, sociable and social ostracism — in her plays condemns intolerance and social callousness. Solidarity with the wronged and humiliated exposes the hypocrisy of the bourgeois world.

Panna Maliczewska is the art of revealing the drama of a young actress who for success in the theater decides first to be the elderly lawyer’s mistress and then his friend’s. Described by Zapolska story demonstrates how difficult it was to occur on Parnassus and the more hold on it. She knew this perfectly well being the author herself, with the ferocity and tenacity fighting for her position in the theater and the environment. As an actress and writer she played a significant role in shaping the tastes of the public and the equalization of social differences.

WHO IS WANDA WHO DID NOT WANT A GERMAN? AN ATTEMPT TO REINTERPRET THE MYTH OF WANDA CONTAINED IN THE CHRONICLES OF THE KINGS AND PRINCES OF POLAND BY MASTER VINCENTIUS CALLED KADŁUBEK

Modern research of Old Polish literature boil down to combine the research fields for Polish philologist and classical philologist. This allows getting to the intertextual literary meanings, usually hidden in the deeper layers of the work. Literary analysis puts researchers to a number of problems, both philological and historical. The aim of this paper is to present a new interpretation of one of the most popular Polish legends. Along with attempts to read the myth about Wanda, recoursing to ancient texts is necessary, what suggest a significant relationship with this tradition.

The biggest problem facing the researchers of work of Master Vincentius, is an attempt to determine the viability of the myth of Wanda on Polish territory before the thirteenth century. Previously thought that the whole story about the assumption of Krakow was the reception of oral tradition that had functioned in the areas of Krakow. Antiquity contained in the work of Master Vincentius is not just quote the most important works of Roman literature. It is also a representation of paraphrased ancient topics that have been transplanted to the field of Polish literature.

The myth of Wanda and the whole legend of Krakow is one of those examples, as well as proof of the possibility of many interpretations, sometimes very controversial, or disprove the earlier and general thesis. The aim of the work is to present reinterpretation of the myth of Wanda in the light of ancient culture. Antique works that evoked the story of the Queen of Carthage — Dido have become the basis of research. Relationship of these two topics were numerous, both in the form of creating a heroine and background plot.

PUZZLES AND CODES IN OLD POLISH TATRA GUIDES MANUSCRIPTS

Old Polish Tatra guides manuscripts, the so–called “spiski” (a specific type of informant of the Tatras and the treasures hidden in them) are rich in a variety of puzzles and codes that require theoretical knowledge but also a field practice. Theoretical knowledge, which has ideal reader (or the holder of the manuscript), consists elements of alchemy, knowledge of the topography, as well as knowledge of the symbolism of the rock–carved characters (which to this day are found in the Tatras, mostly in caves of Zadnia Jaworowa Valley). Attempt to correctly interpret the information in the enigmatic content is complicated by the fact that these texts were a priori designed for the initiated, could also have two recipients — as demonstrated by some of the descriptions of the roads. The message addressed to the initiated includes both the puzzles about the location of Seven Bolts and Frog Lake in the Tatras, and intricate descriptions of trails, constructed so that accidental holder of the manuscript (or competitor) had difficulty in choosing the right way. Aim of this study is to look at the structure of puzzles and ciphers in various forms of “spiski”.

MASKING SPECIES. LULLABY IN CONTEMPORARY POETRY

Lullaby, used as a form of contemporary poetry, loses its real, situational references, which was keeping in the folk literature and partly in the literature for children. Transfer of the speech genre in the realm of literary means an increased degree of metaphoricalness of communication. Lullaby as transgenre enter into connections with a threnody, an elegy, lament, haiku (e.g. in poetry of Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn–Dycki, Wojciech Kass, Zbigniew Herbert). Lullaby as a occasional literature is also understood otherwise — a species is becoming an opportunity to present themselves entity, indicate antinomity of the world, genological camouflage, though its relationship with the dream themes still exists. Folk patterns are undergoing artistic and literary modifications, structural and semantic transformations, and the function of text is changing (e.g. in poetry of Teresa Ferenc, Anna Janko, Anna Kamieńska, Ernest Bryll, Józef Baran, Julia Hartwig, Adam Zagajewski).

ALPHABET AND PROPAGANDA. EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT GOALS OF TEXTS FOR ELEMENTARY EDUCATION OF ADULTS IN THE YEARS 1945–1972

According to the words of Vladimir Lenin, “The illiterate can not build socialism”. Therefore the liquidation of illiteracy had a strategic role — it was not just about providing citizens with basic skills, to facilitate the daily life, but also (and perhaps even primarily) about shaping their social consciousness. This thesis illustrates the already Regulation of conducting primary education courses (Regulamin pracy kursów nauczania początkowego), which defines the purpose of education of adult illiterates in two sections. The first one talks about acquisition (typical for this level of teaching) skills in reading, writing and counting. While the second subsection says the acquisition “basic information about People’s Republic of Poland, about the forces of democracy camp fighting under the chairmanship of the Soviet Union for freedom, justice, prosperity, progress and peace”. Such objectives suggest the indoctrinatinating nature of texts for primary education of illiterate adults. Article proves this thesis by analyzing the same primers and archival materials (Central Office for the Control of the Press, Publications and Performances, Ministry of Education, Office of Government Plenipotentiary for the Eradication of Illiteracy) as well as literature, trying also to show the mechanisms of indoctrination.

SIGNAL IN NOISE — THE HIDDEN STORY IN THE COMIC BY NEIL GAIMAN

Signal to noise by Neil Gaiman takes the game with his form, combines different media (comics, film, telephone, writing) and mixed species found within them. At the same time, this comic is part of a series of works by implementing a strategy for story within a story.

The aim of this article is to study the relationship between the film script, which is hidden in the character’s head, and the second one — open, which will emerge only after his death. This relationship exposes the eternal impossibility of communication at different levels.

From information theory of data transmission can be drawn the idea that in every field of human activity pattern can be applied to the signal to noise ratio. It allows distinguishing what is important, relevant, from what is unimportant, irrelevant.

The communication problem is also related to the question of information overload. And both of these concepts, i.e. the signal to noise ratio and information overload, are used in Gaiman’s comic book.

IN SEARCH OF CONSCIOUSNESS — THE USE OF ALLEGORY IN THE POLISH SCIENCE FICTION LITERATURE (ON EXAMPLE OF LIMES INFERIOR BY JANUSZ A. ZAJDEL)

The construction of texts belonging to the fantastic literature allows operation of allegory in a much wider range than in the texts not introducing these elements. The author creates a world represented by his own conception of reality, using imagination and mimetic techniques, and the receiver, conditioned by their individual space, affects the reception of the work. Readability of the text depends on the sender, which is forced to use the images and characters recognizable by the reader. The same principle applies to the plane of the structure of the whole work. Allegory can be treated as a kind of code to encrypt certain knowledge, hiding the truth, at the same time becomes a tool that allows the recipient to reveal hidden content.

In the case of such novels as Limes inferior by Janusz A. Zajdel we are dealing with multi–level allegorical reading. In terms of historic the Zajdel’s text provides a description of the socio–political relations between Poland and the Soviet Union and the socio–political relations in the People’s Republic of Poland. However, you can read this allegory in the context of a team problem of coexistence of individuals and their interpersonal relationship leading to mutual dependence of some on the other. To first reading the hints, which are performing guide functions, are necessary to read the topic from historical knowledge. In the second case communication analogies must activate, which you can read without detailed historical and cultural references. In both readings allegory serves as a key — “encryption” and “decryption” of images and activities described heroes in the world of fiction.

LETTERS FROM KONSTANTY GASZYŃSKI TO VICTOR DE LAPRADE

The text analyzes letters from Konstanty Gaszyński to Victor de Laprade, derived from the years 1835–1863. This correspondence also raises important issues of Polish emigration and provides valuable material for the study of the biography of the author and the times in which he lived and worked. It is a great sketch for writer’s spiritual portrait.

LE VINGT–UN MAI — COUNTESS IRENA ŁUBIEŃSKA’S BIRTHDAY. A PICTURE OF SOCIAL LIFE IN WARSAW IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Social life in Warsaw in the first half of the 19th century — especially in aristocratic circles — was rich in various types of meetings: from the parties in the literary salons, through the balls, to meeting with card tables. One of the popular forms of enjoying time in the well–off families were play organizing at the home theater. The article discusses the circumstances of the creation and issuance allegorical scenes entitled Le vingt–un mai, which was presented in 1833 in Mokotow on the occasion of countess’s Irena Łubieńska birthday and the anniversary of her betrothal with Henryk Łubieński.