The work presents the problem of “dissonant” relations between Polish Romanticism and politics of the independence camp during World War I. Basing on the example of two literary polemics between publicists and members of the independence propaganda machine and those of the passivist group (Henryk Elzenberg and Ludwik Szczepański, Julia Kisielewska and Wiktor Gomulicki), the text discusses the paradoxes of the propaganda discourse of the camp and the strategies used by publicists to handle the attacks of ideological enemies. In these debates, Romanticism, as well as symbols and attitudes related to it, turn out to be a “dissonant heritage,” which is examined in view of future and new Polish patriotism, and in reference to the reality of contemporary politics. These polemics illustrate that Romanticism was still the key word in the national discourse (as a sort of metalanguage), but on the threshold of independence, its meaning gradually became vague.
PL
W artykule przedstawiono problem „kłopotliwych” związków między polskim romantyzmem a polityką obozu niepodległościowego w latach I wojny światowej. Na przykładzie dwóch polemik literackich toczonych między publicystami i pracownikami aparatu propagandy niepodległościowej a przedstawicielami obozu pasywistów (Henryk Elzenberg i Ludwik Szczepański, Julia Kisielewska i Wiktor Gomulicki) omówiono paradoksy dyskursu propagandowego tego obozu oraz strategie, za pomocą których publicyści radzili sobie z atakami ideologicznych przeciwników. Romantyzm i powiązane z nim symbole oraz postawy okazują się w tych dyskusjach „kłopotliwym dziedzictwem”, które zostaje poddane rewizji w perspektywie przyszłości i nowego kształtu polskiego patriotyzmu oraz w odniesieniu do realiów współczesnej polityki. Polemiki te obrazują, że romantyzm jest wciąż w dyskursie narodowym słowem kluczem (ponieważ jest rodzajem metajęzyka tego dyskursu), jednak u progu niepodległości jego znaczenie staje się coraz bardziej rozmyte.
The paper is not only an attempt at reconstructing the literary legend of Mikołaj Potocki, a governor from Kaniów, but also a story about the helplessness of the Polish 19th‑century writers against the crazy magnate, his legend and Sarmatism, which he represented. Works by Kraszewski, Groza, Grabowski, Jankowski and many other authors, which are dedicated to Mikołaj Potocki, seem to be an interesting testimony of the 19th‑century writers’ struggle with the tradition of their ancestors (not always obvious and accepted). They also make it possible to formulate a thesis about the 19th‑century retouch of pre‑Enlightenment noble culture (rejecting cruelty as a component of knightly identity of noble culture and eliminating characters evoking confusion from among the pantheon of ancestors, for example those described as tricksters by anthropologists).
EN
The paper is not only an attempt at reconstructing the literary legend of Mikołaj Potocki, a governor from Kaniów, but also a story about the helplessness of the Polish 19th‑century writers against the crazy magnate, his legend and Sarmatism, which he represented. Works by Kraszewski, Groza, Grabowski, Jankowski and many other authors, which are dedicated to Mikołaj Potocki, seem to be an interesting testimony of the 19th‑century writers’ struggle with the tradition of their ancestors (not always obvious and accepted). They also make it possible to formulate a thesis about the 19th‑century retouch of pre‑Enlightenment noble culture (rejecting cruelty as a component of knightly identity of noble culture and eliminating characters evoking confusion from among the pantheon of ancestors, for example those described as tricksters by anthropologists).
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