Alina Siomkajło
"Oświecenie", Mieczysław Klimowicz,
Warszawa 1977 : [recenzja]
Literary Studies in Poland 4, 111-113
Book Reviews
Comptes rendus de livres
M i e c z y s ł a w K l i m o w i c z , Oświecenie (Enlightenment), P W N , W arszaw a 1972. 3rd edition 1977.
M ieczysław K lim ow icz’s b o o k opened in 1972 the series H isto ria L iteratu ry Polskiej (The H isto ry o f Polish L iterature) edited by the Institu te o f L iterary Studies o f the Polish A cadem y o f Sciences l. T h a t the Ośw iecenie m eets the dem an d an d expectations o f the readers is proved by the fact th a t it has already ru n th ro u g h three editions.
Oświecenie is m eant as a n university guide as well as a b o o k to
be read by a w ider public interested in the hum an ities an d it is the first synthesis o f the 18th century in P o lan d w ith the am bition o f com prising the w hole know ledge o f the epoch. In accordance w ith a new analytic a p p ro ach , the age o f E nligh ten m en t in P o lan d has been defined as stretching from 1730 to 1795, which m eans enlarging the area o f study in co m p ariso n w ith the h ith erto available h an d b o o k s, where the E nligh tenm ent was usually confined to the years 1764—1795.
W hile takin g into co n sid eratio n the essential con nectio ns o f lite ra tu re o f the Polish E n lig hten m ent w ith Classicism , the a u th o r also show s the a d a p ta tio n o f d ecad en t tren d s o f the B aroq ue on the one h an d , an d the influence o f new cu rren ts w hich were becom ing active at the tim e, such as ro co co, sentim entalism o r the first signs o f p re-R om anticism , on th e o ther. H istorical p en e tratio n o f the
1 The series, whose editor-in-chief was Kazim ierz Wyka, has by now five volumes. A fter K lim ow icz’s Enlightenment there appeared: B arok (Baroque) by Czesław Hernas (1973) and Renesans (Renaissance) by Jerzy Z iom ek (1973) —both discussed in vol. Ill o f Literary Studies in Poland —follow ed by the first volum e o f L iteratura polska
1918—1975 (Polish L iterature 1918 — 1975) in 1975 and P o zy tyw izm (P ositivism ) by
112
Book Reviewsall-E u rop ean m ovem ent into Polish literatu re an d th e relation s o f the latter w ith the life o f the n atio n are presen ted in K lim ow icz’s b oo k from m any various an d interdisciplinary p o in ts o f view. D espite its com plicated stru ctu re, the b o o k is m ark ed by clarity o f co m p o sition, ow ing m ainly to the a u th o r’s com bining several types of p resentatio n specific to such publications. A gainst the b ac k g ro u n d of historical events K lim ow icz show s p o rtra its o f w riters th ro u g h re con stru ctin g their literary careers. T hose p o rtra its-b io g ram s are in ter m ingled w ith recon structio n o f the evolution o f literary genres and developm ent o f styles. T he a u th o r com bines also the synchronic a p p ro ach w ith the diachronic one in o rd e r to in terp ret ideas, in stitutions, program m es, literary practice and their in terrelatio ns in their tendencies to bring a b o u t social, econom ical, ed ucational, p o lit ical and aesthetic changes, in their asp iratio n to m odernity.
T he internal division o f the Polish E nlig hten m ent into periods is based on changes in political an d cu ltu ral co nfig urations, which co n d itio n changes in literature. P a rt I o f the bo o k , “T he Early E nlightenm ent” (1730—1764), presents the first signs o f the E nlighten m ent ideas which ap p e a r a t the end o f the 17th an d the beginning o f the 18th century, w ithin the still p re d o m in a n t S arm atian culture. P a rt II deals w ith the years 1765 — 1787, when the liberal Classicism o f the E nlightenm ent is being form ed in the reign o f king Stanislas A ugust P oniatow ski. T his p eriod is m ark ed by im p o rta n t cultural events: there a p p e ar new scientific an d public institu tio n s (the N a tional T h eatre, T he C om m ission o f N atio n al E ducation), jou rn alism develops with such periodicals as “M o n ito r” and “Z abaw y Przyjem ne i P ożyteczne” (P leasant an d U seful A m usem ents), the p oetry o f the C on fed eratio n o f Bar is w ritten. L iteratu re, an d especially Classicist poetry, flourishes with pro m inent w riters o f the epo ch : A dam N a ru szewicz, Ignacy K rasicki, Stanisław T rem becki, T o m asz K a jetan W ę gierski, com edy being represented by Franciszek Z abłocki, an d the sphere o f literary theory by K rasicki, A dam K azim ierz C zarto ryski, Filip N eriusz G olański an d Franciszek K saw ery D m ochow ski. T he p redom inan t m odel o f cultu re an d thinking is th a t im posed by the F rench school.
T he decline o f C lassicism w as b ro u g h t a b o u t p artly by the spread o f the rococo style in P olish culture, the tu rn in g p oint in aesthetics being the rococo p ro g ram m e o f Jó z e f Szym anow ski.
Com ptes rendus de livres 113 A t the sam e tim e in literature, philosophy, an d a rt in general there ap peared a tren d called sentim entalism , in P oland connected especially w ith the w ork o f Franciszek D ionizy K niaźnin an d F ra n ciszek K arpiński. P a rt III o f the b o o k introduces p ro blem s o f developm ent an d clashing o f those styles which an ticip ate som e o f the dem ocratic w atchw ords o f the futu re R om anticism .
P art IV, covering the years 1787—1795, is concerned w ith political literatu re connected w ith the activities o f the F o u r-Y e ars’ Sejm
{Diet, 1788—1792), the C o n fed eratio n o f T argow ica, an d p atrio tic
literatu re o f K osciuszko’s insurrection. In this p eriod such form s as polem ical writing, rhetorical prose, m em oirs, “p o litical” com edy, bourgeois dram a, an d tragedy on n atio n al subjects are ennob led and en ter into lite ratu re ; there is also developm ent o f op era an d vaudeville. C lassicist poetic genres becom e useful for conveying p atrio tic m essages, dem ocratic tendencies o f literatu re find their way to d ram a, which expresses ideas o f n atio n al an d social freedom . A lso the w orld o f the folk hero enters into literature.
T he peak period o f the Polish E nlightenm ent (1787— 1795) with its new generation o f w riters: Stanisław Staszic, H ugo K ołłątaj, F ranciszek Salezy Jezierski, Julian U rsyn Niem cew icz and Ja k u b Jasiński, is a t the sam e tim e the period o f great changes, when m odern Polish n ation is form ed and the m iddle class becom es the m ost expansive social class.
F inally, the last phase o f the Polish E nlightenm ent is m arked by especially active th eatrical life an d developm ent o f dram a. These aspects o f the age h ad long aw aited detailed trea tm e n t since they were o f m in o r interest for the a u th o rs o f h ith erto w ritten h an d b o o k s and guides to the literatu re o f the period. K lim ow icz presents the history o f the E nlightenm ent th eatre in a detailed an d consequent way from its very beginnings a t the co u rt o f A ugust III, th ro u g h the school an d m ag nate theatres, u p to the great triu m ph o f the a rt on the n atio nal stage directed by W ojciech Bogusławski.
T he essential feature o f the Polish literatu re o f the E nlightenm ent period the a u th o r sees in its serving the pro gram m e o f secular an d dem ocratic reform s, w hereas the tragedy o f 1795 —the third p artitio n o f P o lan d —accounts for th e principal crisis o f the E nlighten m ent.
Sum. by Alina Siom kajlo Transl. by M aria-Boienna Fedewicz
