The paper Editorial issues of “Spitamegeranomachia” by Jan Achacy Kmita is a piecemeal report on the work on the two-part publication “Spitamegeranomachia” of Jan Achacy Kmita – edition..., which appeared in the journal “Meluzyna. Dawna literatura i kultura” (2017). The new edition of the poem was based on the first print (1595) and its nineteenth-century re-edition (1897). The editorial contributions of Aleksander Brückner and Jacek Sokolski were also used. The article illustrates the difficulties that were overcame during the commenting of the text and indicates at the same time the lack of the poem’s more extensive study of the genre structure in the known literature. It is qualified as a heroicomic but also as an allusive or satirical-political poem.
PL
Artykuł Zagadki edytorskie „Spitamegeranomachii” Jana Achacego Kmity jest wyrywkowym opisem prac nad dwuczęściową publikacją „Spitamegeranomachia” Jana Achacego Kmity – edycja…, która ukazała się w czasopiśmie „Meluzyna. Dawna literatura i kultura” (2017 r.). Nowa edycja poematu opierała się na pierwodruku (1595 r.) i jego XIX-wiecznej reedycji (1897 r.), spożytkowano też przyczynki edytorskie Aleksandra Brücknera i Jacka Sokolskiego. Artykuł obrazuje trudności pokonane w trakcie komentowania tekstu. Wskazuje się jednocześnie na brak obszerniejszego opracowania struktury gatunkowej poematu: kwalifikowany jest on jako heroikomikum, ale też jako poemat aluzyjny lub satyryczno-polityczny.
The study is an attempt of a contemporary edition of the first volume of “Spitamegeranomachia” by Jan Achacy Kmita (the second volume in preparation). It is related to the article Zaplecze inwencyjne „Spitamegeranomachii” Jana Achacego Kmity (The base for the ingeniousness of Jan Achacy Kmita’s “Spitamegeranomachia”) which may be regarded as an introduction into the current edition. Published in 1595, “Spitamegeranomachia” is the first Polish heroicomical poem which has been so far republished only once in 1897 in the collection of J. Stoka, M. Pudłowskiego i J.A. Kmity powieści wierszowane 1564-1610 (The verse-written stories by J. Stok, M. Pudłowski and J.A. Kmita 1564-1610). This Edition duplicated certain errors from the original publishing and apart from a glossary it offered no other explanations necessary in the case of a work having such a great number of allusions (paradoxographic, literature-historical and political references). This study aims at preparation of a modern transcription and, first of all, generation of a wider editing comment which would take into account numerous sources of the author’s invention. The issue is comprised of a short introduction, source description (original printing of 1595), critical apparatus and rules of transcription for the whole work, transcription of the dedication poem and the first volume of the narrative poem, as well as further explanations.
This paper offers a detailed analysis “Spitamegeranomachia” by Jan Achacy Kmita on the background of his work and in the broader context of the inventio-doctrine of the Polish Renaissance. The first Polish mock-heroic poem is presented in the light of the Renaissance reception of ancient literature, culture of translation in this time period, and historical and political writing. The main inspirations of the poem’s author are presented. They include: “Iliad” by Homer as a model of an epic and the source of the geranomachia motif; Pliny the Elder’s “Historia naturalis”, from which the characteristics of the Pygmies, cranes, and fantastic semi-human creatures were drawn; and events from Polish history – mostly the Muscovy campaigns of Stephen Báthory, which the poet recorded in the poem through numerous allusions.
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