Romanticism in Poland
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Poland Portal |
Romanticism in Poland was a literary, artistic and intellectual period in the evolution of Polish culture that began around 1820, coinciding with the publication of Adam Mickiewicz's first poems in 1822. It ended with the suppression of the January 1863 Uprising against the Russian Empire in 1864. The latter event ushered in a new era in Polish culture known as the Positivism.[1]
Polish Romanticism, unlike Romanticism elsewhere in Europe, was not limited to literary and artistic concerns. Due to specific Polish historic experiences, notably the partitions of Poland, it was also an idealistic, political and philosophical movement that expressed the ideas and way of life of a large portion of the Polish people.
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[edit] History
Polish Romanticism had two distinct periods: 1820–1832, and 1832–1864. In the first period, Polish Romantics were strongly influenced by other European Romantics. Their art featured emotionalism and irrationality, fantasy and imagination, personality cults, folklore and country life, and the propagation of ideals of freedom. The most famous writers of the period were Adam Mickiewicz, Seweryn Goszczyński, Tomasz Zan and Maurycy Mochnacki.
In the second period, many of the Polish Romantics worked abroad, often banished from Poland by the occupying powers due to their politically subversive ideas. Their work increasingly became dominated by nationalist ideals and the political struggle to regain their country's independence. Elements of mysticism became more prominent.
There developed the idea of the poeta-wieszcz. The wieszcz (bard) functioned as spiritual leader to the nation fighting for its independence. The most notable poet so recognized was Adam Mickiewicz. His famous verse epic Pan Tadeusz describes his love for the land and people of his native country:
"O Lithuania, my country, thou
Art like good health; I never knew till now
How precious, till I lost thee. Now I see
Thy beauty whole, because I yearn for thee."
(— Opening stanza of Pan Tadeusz, Kenneth R. Mackenzie translation)
Other notable Polish Romantic writers active abroad included Juliusz Słowacki, Zygmunt Krasiński and Cyprian Kamil Norwid. A number of Romantic writers remained active in divided and occupied Poland, including Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, Wincenty Pol, Władysław Syrokomla, Narcyza Żmichowska. Romantic ideas informed not only literature but also painting and music. Polish Romantic painting is exemplified in the work of Piotr Michałowski. The music of Frédéric Chopin and Stanisław Moniuszko inspired the development of Polish Romantic arts.
One of Polish Romanticism's unique qualities was its relation to and inspiration from Polish history. Polish Romanticism revived the old "Sarmatism" traditions of Polish nobility (the szlachta).[2] Old traditions and customs were revived and portrayed in a positive light in the Polish messianic movement and in works of great Polish poets such as Adam Mickiewicz (Pan Tadeusz), Juliusz Słowacki and Zygmunt Krasiński, as well as the writers (Henryk Sienkiewicz's Trylogia).[2] This close connection between Polish Romanticism and Polish history became one of the defining qualities of the literature of Polish Romanticism period, differentiating it from that of other countries. They had not suffered the loss of national statehood as was the case with Poland.[2]
[edit] Notable Polish Romantic writers and poets
[edit] Other notable figures
- Aleksander Borkowski Dunin (1811–1896)
- Józef Borkowski Dunin (1809-1843)
- Edward Dembowski (1822-1846), philosopher, journalist and activist
- Stanisław Kostka Potocki (1755-1821), art patron, philosopher and intellectual
- Stanisław Moniuszko (1819-1872), composer
- Andrzej Towiański (1799-1878), philosopher and Messianist religious leader
- Kazimierz Władysław Wójcicki (1807-1879)
- Fryderyk Szopen (1810-1849), composer
- Piotr Michałowski (1800-1855), painter
[edit] References
- ^ Czesław Miłosz, The history of Polish literature. IV. Romanticism. Pages 195–280. Google Books. University of California Press, 1983. ISBN 0520044770. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
- ^ a b c Andrzej Wasko, "Sarmatism or the Enlightenment: The Dilemma of Polish Culture", The Sarmatian Review XVII.2., 1997
