The paper analyses the textual functions of the colon in 1637–1855 editions of Łukasz Górnicki’s Dzieje w Koronie Polskiej. The colon, as an element of rhetoric-intonational punctuation, served to organize and to adequately manage the textual matter. In 19th c. editions of Dzieje…, we observe a snuffing out of textual functions of the colon, in connection with the transition to the syntactic-logical punctuation.
Norwidian Literary Monuments The article discusses functions of quoting pre-Romantic authors in Norwid’s literary and discursive texts. The author argues that Norwid treated Franciszek Karpiński, Piotr Skarga, and Ignacy Krasicki as commentators of the nineteenth-century world and consequently as ‘literary monuments’ who participated in forging the contemporary cultural reality. In Norwid’s works, these authors themselves, not only their texts, became sui generis manifestations and figures of the fate of an unanswered prophet, or an advocate of home truths; as such they became mythologised. One can also find in Norwid’s works, however, elements of the discussion with literary tradition, which proves that he actively engaged with some of the ‘monuments’ of literature (cf. the case of Łukasz Górnicki).
The paper consists of three parts. The first one introduces the basic assumptions of the linguistic culture theory, the first Polish linguistic guide, as it was reconstructed on the basis of Łukasz Górnicki’s Dworzanin polski ‘The Polish courtier’ (1566). The second part discusses Górnicki’s miniature Raczył ‘He deigned’ (1598) which, too, is evidence of his interest in linguistic matters. The paper draws attention to the rhetoric shape of the work which, as a whole, follows the convention of a judicial speech. The third part of the paper presents the results of a study of the verb raczyć, based on a dictionary query.
The second book of The Polish Courtier, Łukasz Górnicki’s paraphrase of Castiglione’s The Book of The Courtier, contains a study of courtly jesting. This is where, among other jests, two scatological jokes attributed to Mikołaj Rej appear. Most scholars considered them as evidence of a coarse sense of humour, incompatible with courtly pleasantry. And yet Górnicki treated Rej’s witticisms as superb examples of sophisticated jesting. The article presents an analysis of these jokes in the context of Górnicki’s discourse on courtly wit, Castiglione’s The Book of The Courtier, Cicero’s De oratore, Renaissance jests and old Polish satirical poetry. The analysis reveals complexity, unobvious meanings and function of scatological witticisms attributed to Rej and allows to understand reasons for the high regard in which Górnicki held them.
The study is an analysis and interpretation of a scene from Łukasz Górnicki’s tragedy Troas (1589), a translation of Seneca’s Troades. A comparison to the original as well as the description of changes introduced by the translator serve to capture a special phenomenon of emphasising the analogy between Ulysses’s and a diplomat’s activity. Starting with the main character’s first line, the words: “durae minister sortis” were translated as “Ja, co poselstwo niosę”. The analysis of this issue shows that the role of Ulysses (who does not negotiate with a representative of a sovereign country, but with a captive woman) cannot be equated with the role of an ambassador. Conversely, it combines in itself the features characteristic of diplomatic staff of various ranks, including characters operating on the edge of the law. The consilium ascribed to Ulysses enables to explore the secret of Andromacha by observing physical symptoms of emotions. This makes it possible for Górnicki to define the main character’s ingenuity as “dowcip odwrócony na nice” which, irrespective of Seneca’s original, refers to the terminology used earlier in Dworzanin polski, where dowcip (wit) is the equivalent of ingegno. Among the ethical elements of Ulysses’s speeches one should name, above all, his desire to convince Andromacha to accept the Greek’s line of argumentation. This, in turn, provides good framework for parallelism with the New Testament (Lk 2:35). The last part of the work, devoted to pathos, addresses the problem of a mismatch between the role of Ulysses and diplomacy codes in Górnicki’s times. The main character does not limit himself to conducting well thought-out negotiations, but he also uses direct violence. Similar dissonance in character construction seems to make the representation of diplomatic practices in Górnicki’s translation a problematic task, given the socio-political tensions in Europe in the second half of sixteenth century.
Artykuł proponuje analizę i interpretację sceny z tragedii Łukasza Górnickiego Troas (1589), będącej przekładem Troades Seneki. Porównanie z oryginałem i opis zmian wprowadzonych przez tłumacza mają na celu uchwycenie szczególnego zjawiska, jakim jest zaakcentowanie w przekładzie analogii postępowania Ulissesa z działalnością dyplomaty: od pierwszej kwestii bohatera, słowa „durae minister sortis” przetłumaczone zostały jako „ja, co poselstwo niosę”. Analiza tego zagadnienia pokazuje zarazem, że rola Ulissesa (pertraktującego nie z przedstawicielem suwerennego państwa, ale z branką) nie może zostać utożsamiona z funkcją ambasadora, lecz łączy w sobie cechy właściwe personelowi dyplomatycznemu różnego szczebla, w tym postaci działających na krawędzi legalności. Przypisane Ulissesowi consilium umożliwia przeniknięcie tajemnicy Andromachy za pomocą obserwacji cielesnych symptomów emocji. Pozwala to Górnickiemu określić przemyślność bohatera jako „dowcip odwrócony na nice”, co stanowi – niezależne od oryginału Seneki – na wiązanie do terminologii użytej wcześniej w Dworzaninie polskim, gdzie dowcip jest odpowiednikiem ingegno. Wśród etycznych elementów mów Ulissesa wymienić należy przede wszystkim jego pragnienie przekonania Andromachy do słuszności racji Greków. Zjawisko to stanowi ramę dla wystąpienia paralelizmu z Nowym Testamentem (Łk 2, 35). Ostatnia część, poświęcona pathos, podejmuje problem nieprzystawalności roli Ulissesa do kodów dyplomacji epoki Górnickiego. Bohater nie ogranicza się do prowadzenia przemyślnych negocjacji, ale posługuje się również przemocą bezpośrednią. Podobna niespójność kreacji postaci wydaje się wpisywać problematyczną reprezentację praktyk dyplomacji w przekładzie Górnickiego w polityczne i społeczne napięcia drugiej połowy XVI w.
EN
The study is an analysis and interpretation of a scene from Łukasz Górnicki’s tragedy Troas (1589), a translation of Seneca’s Troades. A comparison to the original as well as the description of changes introduced by the translator serve to capture a special phenomenon of emphasising the analogy between Ulysses’s and a diplomat’s activity. Starting with the main character’s first line, the words: “durae minister sortis” were translated as “Ja, co poselstwo niosę”. The analysis of this issue shows that the role of Ulysses (who does not negotiate with a representative of a sovereign country, but with a captive woman) cannot be equated with the role of an ambassador. Conversely, it combines in itself the features characteristic of diplomatic staff of various ranks, including characters operating on the edge of the law. The consilium ascribed to Ulysses enables to explore the secret of Andromacha by observing physical symptoms of emotions. This makes it possible for Górnicki to define the main character’s ingenuity as “dowcip odwrócony na nice” which, irrespective of Seneca’s original, refers to the terminology used earlier in Dworzanin polski, where dowcip (wit) is the equivalent of ingegno. Among the ethical elements of Ulysses’s speeches one should name, above all, his desire to convince Andromacha to accept the Greek’s line of argumentation. This, in turn, provides good framework for parallelism with the New Testament (Lk 2:35). The last part of the work, devoted to pathos, addresses the problem of a mismatch between the role of Ulysses and diplomacy codes in Górnicki’s times. The main character does not limit himself to conducting well thought-out negotiations, but he also uses direct violence. Similar dissonance in character construction seems to make the representation of diplomatic practices in Górnicki’s translation a problematic task, given the socio-political tensions in Europe in the second half of 16th century.
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