METABASIS: A FEW WORDS ABOUT APOSTROPHE

The main aim of the paper is to make some remarks on apostrophe (aversio), its figurative nature and discursive functions. The figure of rhetorical address to some person other than judge has many affinities with other linguistic or stylistic devices, for instance exclamation, a rhetorical question, animation, personification, aposiopesis, prosopopoeia. As a rhetorical aversion it remains always involved in a communicative context. Using many modes of figuration, apostrophe conveniently gives the poet an opportunity to modulate his poetic voice. Then, it seems to be a mark of invested passion or sublime poetry.

The considerations on apostrophe are concentrated on three issues: forms and meanings of this figure in rhetorical tradition (Quintilian, Górski, Keckermann, Stanisław Kostka Potocki, Euzebiusz Słowacki), idea of apostrophe as a central figure of post-Enlightenment poetry (Jonathan Culler), and its role in a poetic invocation (for example of Jan Kochanowski’s Latin ode to Henryk Walezy and stanza addressed to ‘Heavenly Muse’ in Torquato Tasso and Piotr Kochanowski).

POLEMIC FRICTIONS, RESPONSES AND TRAVESTIES IN THE POETIC SKIRMISHES OF THE END OF THE XVIII CENTURY

The author refers solely to coexisting polemic poetic works (prints and manuscripts) adhering to a literary convention of an initiating text. The poems treat significant events from the final years of the First Polish Republic and became the seed bed of the ideological struggle. Their polemic character was usually indicated in their titles beginning with words such as answer, reply, response, travesty, “tit for tat”, or with prepositions “on” (“on poetry”) or “to” (“to the author”). Perhaps they would not have won much renown if it was not for their presence in poetic skirmish. This paper indicates various battle methods used by polemicists and the propaganda impact of these works.

GYPSIES: SENTIMENTAL AND ROMANTIC (KNIAŹNIN – MONIUSZKO)

The paper focuses on the libretto Jawnuta by Stanisław Moniuszko, interpreting it in the context of theory of intertextuality as a type of hypertext created primarily from Cyganie [Gypsies] by Franciszek Dionizy Kniaźnin, as well as from pieces by Józef Korzeniowski, Kazimierz Brodziński, Jan Nepomucen Jaśkowski, Edmund Wasilewski, Władysław Syrokomla and Jan Czeczot. The author is particularly interested in the mechanisms of romantic reinterpretation of a drama of an 18th century sentimentalist. Therefore, first she analyses the works by Kniaźnin, indicating his pionieering character in Poland and how deep-rooted he was in the ideology of the European Enlightenment. Then she confronts her observations with the work by Moniuszko, extracting the conventions of romantic exoticism and individualism characteristic to substantial parts of the libretto Jawnuta and thus presents how romantic stereotypes of a Gypsy and the Gypsy culture modified the meanings inscribed in the Enlightenment’s text.

„WHITE ANGELS WITH BRIGHT WINGS” (CONSTELLATION OF PARAPHRASES)

The paper is a review of the functions of the citation from the novel of Narcyza Żmichowska Poganka [The Pagan] (1846): “I was once told that here on earth exist angels with bright wings”. This citation and the figure of an angel with bright wings express a romantic model of love and define a social role of a woman as a caregiver and man’s helper. The most famous use of this paraphrase of the citation appears in the novel Lalka [Doll] (1890) by Bolesław Prus. Literary historians were certain that Prus refered directly to Poganka.

In the article the author demonstrated that this fragment from Poganka had already functioned in the publishing market as a separate poem under the title Miłość do kobiety [Love to a Woman] since 1857. Up until the publishing of Lalka it was published several times in Warsaw and Lviv. It also became a basis for Aleksander Michaux’s paraphrase (pen name – Miron) whom Prus knew. The paraphrasis of Miron had been published several times before Lalka came into being. In the light of these findings the thesis on Poganka’s exclusivity as the basis for the citation in Lalka cannot be maintained.

The second part of the article analyses the role of the citation and other paraphrases (extensive rhyming paraphrase by Aleksander Kraushar) in literary texts which were created at the same time as Lalka or after its publishing. The intertexts to Żmichowska’s work can be found in the prose of Hajota (Helena Pajzderska), Wacław Sieroszewski, Janina (Kazimiera Stachowiczowa), Bronisław Grabowski and others. A certain regularity was discovered: the modification of the citation (paraphrase) is connected with the attitude of writers critical towards the romantic model and wtih democratic-reformatory views. The citations that remained unchanged and which sustained the standing of the Church were quoted by publicists and authors of educational treaties written in conservative spirit.

DICKENS, DROOD AND SPECULATIONS

The article discusses a wide range of adaptations and paraphrases of an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens entitled The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870). These “variations” can be divided into continuations of the plot of the novel, as well as scholars’ and readers’ investigations into the mysterious disappearance of the eponymous character. These “solutions” started to appear right after Dickens’s sudden death, and they have been published ever since. The article offers a chronological presentation and the discussion of the texts which refer to The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Some of the theatrical and film adaptations are mentioned. Some attention was also given to the Polish reception of the novel, although the main focus for the author is the way The Mystery of Edwin Drood has been appropriated and adapted, and the extent to which it challenged readers’ responses to the novel.

BREAKING BAD OF DEAR OLD STACH

The paper compares two main protagonists from Lalka [The Doll] by Bolesław Prus and from the series Breaking Bad by Vince Gilligan by indicating evident parallels between them. The figure of Walter White (which is in some way a summary of anti-hero trend in the contemporary series) is also used to present the protagonist of Lalka as a certain type of anty-hero and to emphasize debatable problems in his life. The protagonist of the American series becomes a reference point to such issues in Stanisław Wokulski’s biography as making fortune and spending it as well as the determination to achieve one’s goals. The events connected with commissions for Suzin are examined – Bulgarian and Paris episodes – which acquire new meanings, just like the relation between the Pole and the Russian.

EPHEMERAL AS SMOKE? CRYPTO-ADVERTISING AND CHANGE OF CUSTOMS – ABOUT POLISH TOBACCO MONOPOLY CAMPAIGNS IN A MAGAZINE “KOBIETA WSPÓŁCZESNA” [MODERN WOMAN] IN 1931-1932

The paper is a dispute with the theses propagated in 1930s about backwardness and primitivism of Polish press advertising. The analysis of a series of texts published in the Warsaw’s weekly “Kobieta Współczesna” [Modern Woman] between October 1931 and November 1932 indicates astonishing similarity to the methods used in the USA by Edward L. Bernays, the father of public relations, in 1928-1929. The texts camouflaged as feature articles about fashion, good manners and decency or quasi stories and health warnings are aiming to create in female readers positive associations between smoking cigarettes (and the names of particular brands) and elegance, modernity, liberation, sensuality and life in comfort. This crypto advertising strategy, modelled on the American method, is an example of deliberate actions which contributed to breaking the long-lasting social taboo on smoking in public by woman in the Interwar Years. In order to gain access to new markets for particular products these actions have changed culture.

A PASTICHE OR A CONTINUATION? POWRÓT WOLANDA ALBO NOWA DIABOLIADA [WOLAND RETURNS OR A NEW DIABOLIADA] BY WITALIJ RUCZINSKI IN RELATION TO THE MASTER AND MARGARITA BY MIKHAIL BULGAKOV

The paper discusses the problem of the relationship between Bulgakov’s seminal novel of the 20th century and the book based on it written by Witalij Ruczynski. On the one hand, Ruczynski refers to widely understood intratextual matters, the issues of structure, plot or language which relate to such categories as tradition and innovation. On the other hand, he refers to non-literary contexts in which function both the original and the novel inspired by Bulgakov’s book. The book by Ruczynski as well as The Master and Margarita illustrate socio-political processes of particular time and place. Thus, the analysis of selected motifs reveals more than just the principal theme of Powrót Wolanda albo nowa diaboliada [Woland returns or a new diaboliada], which is the search for and the discovery of the Russian national identity in the transformation period. It also allows to depict primary tendencies that took place in literature at the beginning of the 1990s of the 20th century, and, at the same time, illustrates how a work from a literary canon interacts with popular culture.

MOURNING POEMS FOR KRZYSZTOF RADZIWIŁŁ IN THE SILVA RERUM FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF THE BAVOROVIANUM IN LVIV

The 17th century silva rerum from the collections of the Bavorovianum (manuscript 1332/II), currently stored in The Lviv National Vasyl Stefanyk Scientific Library of Ukraine, contains copies of unknown occasional works about the Radziwiłł family from Birże. The most elaborate set consists of mourning poems for prince Krzysztof (d. 1640): Lament na pogrzeb księcia pana wojewody wileńskiego… [The lament for the funeral of sir prince voivode of Vilnius], three poems Korony temuż [The crown to thee], the tombstone, and Na chorągiew temuż [To the flag to thee]. The texts are preceded by a foreward that introduces the author, Walerian Gorzycki, and characterises the works, clarifying the evoked settings and referring to the genres issues. Lament… emphasises primarily the hetman’s military merits and his religious patronage. The three poems refer to the motif of crowns awarded to victorious commanders and commemorate the liberation of Smoleńsk and Mitawa. The poem Na chorągiew… is a Polish language version of a latin inscription placed on the flag prepared for the funeral of Radziwiłł that has been documented in 17th century prints (by Siestrzencewicz and Kmita).

JOSEF SVATOPLUK MACHAR’S MAGDALENA IN TRANSLATION BY ZOFIA TRZESZCZKOWSKA. ZENON PRZESMYCKI’S “SOULMATE’S CONTROL”

The paper presents the circumstances of translating Josef Svatopluk Machar´s Magdalena by Zofia Trzeszczkowska (Adam M-ski). The translator had prepared a list of questions which she sent to an “Old Czech” – Zenon Przesmycki for consultation as she faced difficulties in rendering the verses into Polish. The material is a source of information of poet’s language capacity, and it also documents hints given by Miriam himself (drafted just above the translator’s questions), and thereby his influence on the final version of Magdalena in the Polish language.

E-TEXTBOOKS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL EDITING

The development of technology visible in every sphere of social and cultural life has not been without influence on editing. So as to meet the expectations of the generation called “digital natives” editors faced a difficult task of adjusting traditional analytic language and research methods (and also creating completely new tools) for the purposes of electronic editions. This can be proved by the fact that digital editing is one of the five main activities of the Digital Humanities Centre at the Literary Research Department of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Modern editing technologies play an important role not only on the market of “traditional” e-books, but also in the field of electronic educational publications. In this paper I analysed e-textbooks, mostly created by the MEN [The Ministry of National Education] in the programme “Cyfrowa szkoła” [“Digital school”], which have been in use for students and teachers since September 2015, and also proposals of two publishing houses: WSiP and Nowa Era.

THE NATURE OF TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE FINE ARTS

This paper aims to portray a remarkably diverse range of phenomena related to transformations in art: from the transformation of sculptor’s or painter’s matter into a work of art (on the example of works of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci), through the spiritual metamorphosis of the artist whilst creating a piece, up to reciprocal flow of inspirations, feelings, emotions, and consciousness or its absence on the creation of the artefact that shapes the spiritual experiences of the audience. During the human engagement in the work of art, those phenomena can also occur with respect to faith by means of an artistic expression of a purely religious character (e.g. Vatican’s monumental and magnificent architecture).

“The aging” of a piece of art or restoration activities that block this aging are examples of changes of the matter owing to the technology that changes the perception of the work over time; while, art devoted to glorifying – and inducing – social evolutions and revolutions is in the service of propaganda and politics (e.g. works created in ancient Egypt, the Third Reich, North Korea, the USSR).

Artistic visions often depend on the influences of psychoactive substances on the consciousness of the artist and his perception of reality which results in its completely different reception (Witkacy’s portraits). Is such artistic vision created under the influence of substances objective? Where (if at all) in the modern world can we trace boundaries between art and non-art? This text aims to address and answer these questions and doubts.