Literary Aspects of thePolish Enlightenment

(1)

Mieczysław Klimowicz

Literary Aspects of thePolish

Enlightenment

Literary Studies in Poland 4, 7-26

(2)

Articles

M ieczysław K lim ow icz

Literary A spects o f the Polish Enlightenment

W hen in the 18th century the E nlightenm ent ap p eared in Poland, it ap p e are d in a co u n try which, w ith its archaic social an d political system, h ad long ceased to p artic ip a te in the developm ent o f the E u ro p ean culture, an d whose literature, thou gh ab u n d a n t an d vigorous, con tin u ed to deal in long ou tw o rn values. S arm atianism , the gentry culture, in the 16th and 17th centuries representing the m odel o f the n atio n al cu ltu re with specific, distinct characteristics, at the ap pearan ce o f the first “E nlig htened” w ho “dared to th in k ,” becam e an an achronic m onstrosity, paralyzing all attem p ts at reform s. All the m ore, in the initial p eriod w as the writers" an d refo rm ers’ m entality determ ined by the aw areness o f the backw ardness o f P o lan d in relation to E urope in all spheres o f life. T he search for a p ro gram m e of reform s which w ould enable the m aking up for this backw ardness was especially urgent, since the co u n try was threaten ed with loss o f its independence.

In the E u ro p e an countries, G erm an y included, it was m ainly F rance —b o th th a t o f Louis X IV with its flourishing Classicism and th a t o f th e 18th-century philosophers —which was regarded as the m odel a n d source o f inspiration in all m atters o f culture. T hus, in co u rt circles, which played an im p o rta n t p a rt in initiating new tendencies, practically two types o f culture could be distinguished: the F rench one, being de rigeur in m u tu al relationships an d in diplom acy, an d the native one, which in various ways was to be raised to ap p ro x im ate the French p aragon. A long w ith the d o m in a tion o f the F rench culture, a certain, som etim es even quite a con sid erable, role in inspiring and developing new tendencies was played by English, Italian and G erm an influences. Specific cosm opolitism

(3)

8 M ieczysław Klim owicz

o f the co u rt intellectual élite had —to som e ex tent —aristocratic features, but, at the sam e tim e, it w as p erm eated w ith the spirit of that “republic o f p h ilosophers” o f which V oltaire h ad said th at it stretched from Paris to P eking and which po stu lated tran sfo rm in g E uropean societies according to the new, enlightened principles. The greatest difficulties arose w ith p rogram m es o f ad a p tin g the F rench m odels o f the E nlightenm ent to native cultures w ith their often rich traditions.

O ne o f the principal difficulties in assim ilating those m odels in Poland consisted in the fact th at the Polish m ain cu ltu ral force was the gentry, which accounted for the specific ch a rac te r o f the whole literary evolution. T he first to be ad o p ted were the already w o rk ed-ou t form s o f criticism o f the degenerated feudal culture, w hereas in proposing positive m odels there ap peared clear lim itations. T he first serious clash between the E nlightenm ent an d S arm atianism to o k place in the early p a rt o f Stanislas A ugust P o n ia to w sk i’s reign (1764—1767), the tim e o f optim ism and faith in the success o f the initiated reform s. Newly developed jo u rn alism an d the public theatre dealt with topical issues. T he “ M o n ito r” (1764—1784), a periodical m odelled on the English “S p ectato r”, severely criticized the social, political and econom ic structu re o f P oland, d em o n strated , by m eans o f statistics, backw ardness o f the c o u n try ’s developm ent, an d , above all, revised the S arm atian fnyths, custom s and m o ral pattern s.

The “ M o n ito r” , with its E nlightenm ent principle o f eq uality o f all people before the laws o f nature, did not infringe the class divisions, but postulated the far-reaching h um anization o f m utu al relationships between the classes. The very notio n o f nobility based on privilege was questioned an d stripped o f its charism atic ch a rac te r; the p erio d i cal com prom ised the m ythology which was to justify the functioning o f the p atriarch al m odel o f the gentry A rcadia, and tried to furnish the gentry hero with new virtues and a new way o f thinking, taken from the philosophy and m oralistic th ough t o f the E nlightenm ent. On the basis o f the latest econom ic and social doctrines, especially the physiocratic one, it conceded m orally equal rights to tow nsm en and peasants.

The sam e them es were dealt w ith in the n atio n al th eatre. In didactic com edies, w ritten m ainly by Franciszek B ohom olec, w ith th eir usual con trastin g o f couples o f characters, “ enlig htened ” heroes, dressed

(4)

L iterary A spects o f Polish Enlightenment 9

after the F rench fashion, were set against picturesque S arm atians, the la tte r d em onstrating the w orst vices. The very line o f developm ent o f the theatre was interesting: it ra n from the didactic com edy to the “ gen try” dram a, in w hich the gentry hero is furnished w ith the virtues and m entality typical o f ch aracters o f the bourgeois d ram a, is even pu t in identical situations an d passes the sam e ordeals. In B ohom olec’s Pan dobry (A G ood Lord) the ah um an istic sense o f the gentry idyll was q u estion ed by in troducin g ch aracters o f p easants as serious partn ers, endow ed w ith sensibility an d noble feelings. A lthough they ca n n o t find their own idiom yet an d speak in th e correct dialect, in lyrical m om ents reso rtin g to phrases tak en from the church

rhetoric, their ap pearance is an interesting experim ent in the social rise o f “ the th ird esta te ” in lite ratu re o f the Polish E nlightenm ent. G enerally, the th eatre an d jo u rn a lism o f the p eriod negatived the S arm atian cu ltu re an d set fo rth new, how ever schem atic and vague, positive m odels o f the “E u ro p e a n ” noblem an.

T he C onfederation o f R ad om (1767), prov oked by C ath erin e II’s am bassador, and the C onfed eratio n o f Bar (1768 — 1772) becam e the p rotest o f the S arm atian w orld against b oth the foreign intervention and all plans o f reform s, an d especially against the new style o f life. H ow an tiq u ated the a ttitu d e o f the B ar republicans w as m anifested in their continuing the m odel o f the C hristian knight o f the C o un ter- R eform ation period, defender o f the “golden freedo m ,” fighting for his faith against libertines an d heretics o f all kinds. This attitu d e found its expression in literary form s characteristic o f the tim e o f Z ebrzydow ski’s rebellion, such as song, hym n, supplication, psalm , appeal, threnody, prophecy, an d p arap h rases o f religious w orks, e.g. the fam ous “ C o n federation P ra y e r.” This literature was as m uch o f the patriotic as o f the religious, B aroque, ch aracter. But intolerance, hostility to the E nlightenm ent ideas, an d ap p ro v al o f the basic principles o f S arm atianism , alth o u g h interlocked w ith love for the country, were its salient features.

The Enlightened Classicism

A fter the first p artitio n o f the cou n try , in 1773, the k ing ’s p arty drew conclusions from the b itte r experiences o f the previous years. It becam e ap p a ren t th at in those difficult circum stances the necessary

(5)

10 M ieczysław Klim ow icz

reform s could not be carried out th ro u g h a single au th o rita tiv e act. The king did not have the absolute pow er o f the R ussian Peter I; literary and journalistic p ro p a g an d a was unlikely to succeed in fo rm ing a wider public opinion. In this situ atio n the C om m ision o f N a tional E ducation, the first m inistry o f ed ucation in E u ro pe, created in 1773, becam e an instrum ent o f changing the consciousness o f at least p art o f the gentry, o f preparing m inds for accepting salutary reform s. L iterature, which in the 1770's was in its “ golden p erio d ,” also served the great cause o f n atio n al edu cation . In the m ain, it is C lassical literature, b u t this C lassicism is o f a specific character. In 18th-century F rance only som e w riters, V oltaire fo r instance, assum ed th at, everything having already been invented in poetry, the only way left is to m ake the existing, classical form s perform new tasks. The m ain tren d in literature too k, how ever, a différent course.

In the countries east o f F rance, P o lan d included, prevailed an op inion th at the revival o f the n atio n al literature can be based on b o th R om an an d Classicist, French, m odels. In P o la n d there were also native trad itio n s o f the R enaissance Pre-C lassicism , which survived the B aroque period in school poetics to revive u n d er the influence o f French inspirations tow ards the end o f the Saxon rule. Classicism as a literary doctrine represented th at “ m oral o rd e r” o f the cou rt culture o f the tim e o f Louis X IV ’s abso lute m o n arch y which was codified in B oileau’s L ’A rt poétique. A nd yet, its ratio nalism , stem m ing from the C artesian m eth od o f cognition an d p o stu latin g “ clarity and distinctness o f ideas,” as well as its didacticism resulting from its involvem ent in social and political questions, m ade it possible to adjust it to the E nlightenm ent tasks, particu larly in the co u rt circles.

Experim ents carried ou t in the colum ns o f “ Z abaw y Przyjem ne i P ożyteczne” (P leasant an d U seful A m usem ents, 1770 — 1777), the first Polish literary periodical, proved th a t such Classical genres as ode, idyll, satire, fable, and m oçk-heroic poem could serve the purposes o f the E nlightenm ent didacticism , an d even express new a ttitu d e s an d conflicts. “Z a b a w y ...” never m anaged, how ever, to fo r m ulate a program m e o f this “enlightened” C lassicism ; som e p ro p ositions were presented in the w orks o f the m ost p ro m in en t co n tem p orary w riters: A dam N aruszew icz, Stanisław T rem becki, an d

(6)

L iterary Aspects o f Polish Enlightenment

11

Ignacy K rasicki. In som e genres, in the fable, satire, an d m ock-heroic poem , fo r instance, th eir achievem ents are ou tstan d in g . Still, certain lim itatio ns of this poetry were also visible, especially in the w orks o f the “ p rin ce o f p o ets” o f the time, Ignacy K rasicki.

K rasicki cultivated nearly all —except for the idyll —poetic genres. He sta rte d with the m ock-heroic poem , usually n o t m ention ed in classical poetics, since it negated, by its very n atu re, the sense of the great epic. In his M yszeis, M onachom achia an d Antym onachom achia he criticized oldfashionedness, ridiculed attitu des, m yths an d co n ventions o f Sarm atianism , an d w ith his m asterly use o f p aro d y m ade the P olish language capable o f expressing so ph isticated wit and subtle irony.

In his satires he dissected the c o rru p t gentry society, presenting —in co nfo rm ity with the poetics o f the genre —a deform ed and confused picture o f reality. He founded his criticism o n an ideal m odel o f the w orld o f genuine values, close to R o u sseau ’s co nception, th ough not precisely defined. But, rem ote from the bourgeois positions, he searched fo r this w orld in the m yth o f the “ h o n o u ra b le fo refath e rs,” who h ad practised austere virtues, led the life o f sim plicity and m ade the state pow erful. T his picture w as set against dep rav atio n s and crim es o f the con tem poraries. T he m o ra list’s involvem ent is frequently accom panied by depression an d loss o f faith in any possibility o f im provem ent. N otes o f pessim ism and bitterness are to be found in the fables which, con tinuing experiences o f the satires, went fu rther tow ards generalization an d philosophical reflection. A sim ilar attitu d e is expressed in K rasick i’s lyrical poetry.

His poetry, the highest achievem ent o f the literature o f the period, sprouted from the Classicist stem an d expressed the passion o f a satirist a n d m oralist, his concern an d do ub ts. It co uld not, however, provide too ls for carrying o u t experim ents which were fund am ental for the epoch: it could n o t create a m odel o f the positive hero. H eroic epic, destined for this p urp ose as a central classical genre, was already an anach ro n ic form , an d K rasick i’s Wojna chocim ska

( The Chocim War) is a dull, academ ic and unsuccessful w ork, which

can be o f interest only on accoun t o f its locating the m yth o f the “ h o n o u ra b le fo refath ers” an d its attem p ts at m aking the past look m ore heroic. So, in accordance w ith the practice o f the age, for presenting his positive p ro g ram m e he chose a n o th e r epic form , a novel.

(7)

K rasicki’s experim ent, co n tain ed in tw o novels, M ikołaja Doświadczyń-

skiego p rzyp ad ki ( The Adventures o f M iko ła j D ośw iadczyński, 1776)

an d Pan Podstoli (vol. 1 — 1778, vol. 2 — 1784, vol. 3 — 1803), led tow ards a com prom ise w ith S arm atianism . Som e traces o f this attitu d e are already visible in his com edies, where the typical configuration o f heroes o f B ohom olec's com edies is com pletely reversed: the S arm atian ch aracters are d raw n with sentim ent, w hereas the hitherto positive hero, a gallant, m odel o f the E u ro pean ized gentlem an, becom es —as a dandy —the negative hero an d is replaced by a youth in the nation al costum e, ap p ro v in g o f native custom s, furnish ed with progressive ideas, and in direct co n fro n tatio n beating his fashionable rival with his eruditio n and intelligence. N ative elem ents entered also in the figures o f old, kind-h earted servants who displaced the sm art servants o f the French com edy.

M ikołaja Doświadczyńskiego p rzyp a d ki com bines alm ost all ele

m ents o f the E nlightenm ent novel: satire an d adven tures, “ R o b in so n ian ” m o tif an d u topia. B ook I depicts the yo uth o f the hero bro u g h t up after the w orst S arm atian p attern s an d superficial French fashion, which leads him to the th resh old o f jail. In B ook II, on an u to p ian island N ipu, inhabited by a h appy people living in the natu ra l state, the “ savage” E u ro p e an undergoes radical re-education. A sage, X aoo , expounds to D ośw iadczyński the ed ucatio nal principles ad o p ted from R ou sseau ’s E m ile and, condem ning the E urop ean civilization, praises an d d em o n strates to the am azed strang er the N ip u an way o f life. T he N ip u an s live no longer in the prim itive com m u nity; everyone has his ow n piece o f land on which he farm s with the aid o f children an d farm hands, an d all enjoy equal rights. They do n o t know “ a r ts ” an d crafts, except the m ost prim itive ones, an d their only lite ratu re is oral, tran sm ittin g from generation to generation the history o f their ancestors. They w orship the Suprem e Being w itho ut m ysteries an d priests, a n d practise the fundam ental virtues, their m u tu al relation ships being based on open expression o f feelings, w ith out deceit an d hypocrisy. In his N ip u an u to pia K rasicki em bodied the ideal founded in the m ain on R o usseau's conception o f a society living in h arm ony o f the m a n ’s n atu re an d its m anifestation and u n p o llu ted by the destructive influences o f civilization.

(8)

“civilized” world. It proves, how ever, to be an alienated w orld in which the R ousseauesque N ip u an ca n n o t find for him self any field o f activity. D osw iadczynski’s attem p ts a t jo in in g in the w ork o f re form ing the co untry com e to nothing , for the gentry society is beyond cure. C onsequently, the Polish hero follows R o u sseau ’s recipe and settles dow n in “ seclusion,” confining his re fo rm ato ry pro g ram m e to carrying into effect the principles o f the N ip u an ed ucation in his family circle and am ong his p ea san t serfs. T hus, D osw iadczynski’s decision is n ot a com plete w ithdraw al from the active p articip atio n in the life o f co n tem p o rary P oland, as it w as unjustly suggested by those who drew parallels betw een K ra sick i’s novel an d V o ltaire’s

Candide\ it only m eans lim iting this activity to the elem ental sphere

o f education. W h at is especially interesting in D osw iadczynski is a discrepancy, specific o f K ra sick i’s attitu d e , betw een the sentim ental, typically R ousseauesque co nception o f the h e ro ’s career, with its central E nlightenm ent conversion upo n com ing into co ntact with the w orld o f genuine values, and the stylistics o f the novel, characterized by the rationalistic, satirical attitu d e .

Pan Podstoli, a d o cu m en tary novel, stem m ing from K ra sick i’s

journalistic experiences, where the m ain n a rra to r sets o u t into the country to m eet and interview a fascinating figure, to render then

his h ero ’s utterances in the indirect speech, was a very interesting experim ent in the Polish novel. M r Podstoli is an older D osw iad czynski, a landow ning squire w ho tries to carry into effect the system o f values accepted on the N ip u island in the con d itio n s o f his country estate. It is w o rth m entioning th a t the N ipuans, despite their acceptance o f the E nlig htenm ent axiom o f the equality o f people, live in a specific form o f patriarchalism .

Peasants in M r P o d sto li’s village are still serfs, b u t this p atriarch al system is founded on different m o ral prem ises. T he h e ro ’s nobility is not based on privilege; it is by practising im p o rta n t virtues th a t he proves his superiority. In his p ea san t serfs he recognizes hum an beings m orally equal to him , an d thin k s th a t in the fu tu re they can be em ancipated, b u t they have to m atu re first. C haracteristically, K rasicki attem p ts a t reconciling in his novel elem ents o f trad itio n and those o f novelty, an d indicates this a t the very beginning by the m otto: moribus antiquis, pu t on the title-page. H e tu rn s to the m yth — which can be traced back to M ikofaj Rej a n d which was still

(9)

14 M ieczysław K lim ow icz

alive a t the tim e —o f the gentry A rcadia, to the tra d itio n o f the m odel life o f the co u n try gentlem an in his sm all estate, an d tries to ad o p t those m anners and no rm s o f b ehav io u r w hich were sanctified by the sim plicity o f the “h o n o u ra b le fa th e rs.” H e introduces, how ever, a different m otivation for the functioning o f this m odel, and trying to m ake it m ore u p -to -d ate he rejects everything th at has degenerated an d co rru p ted . T his p ro g ram m e is co n tain ed in num erous utterances o f the m ain hero, concerning the essential aspects o f the gentry A rcad ia: attitu d e to w ard s the serfs, religion, bring ing up o f children, pastim es and cu ltu ra l interests, the role o f the priest, etc.

A fter unsuccessful attem p ts a t rejecting to tally the S arm atian culture, Pan Podstoli is the first com prom ise co ncep tio n o f the gentry hero com bining the native tra d itio n s w ith the new o u tlo o k . The gentry A rcadia is preserved here in only a slightly m odified form , but it acquired a new, hum anistic justification . K ra sick i’s lim itatio ns are the lim itations o f the w hole gen eratio n o f the gentry reform ers; while in E u rop e the gauge o f m o d ern ity was the b ou rg eois hero, his conflicts an d positive prog ram m e, the search for the P olish hero, though based on sim ilar prem ises, h ad to tak e a different course an d give a different outcom e —such as K ra sick i’s Pan P,odstoli.

T he experim ents carried o u t by such w riters as K rasicki and N aruszew icz indicate th a t central in th e “ en lig h ten ed ” Classicism was the tendency to advancing new genres, especially p ro se ones, which in effect led to going b eyond the n arrow confines o f literatu re conceived in the spirit o f the 17th-century C lassicism , lim ited to poetry an d rhetoric, to w ard s m o d ern belles-lettres, covering hith erto u nknow n form s o f prose. In practice, there form ed, generally speaking, two m odels o f Classicism . O ne o f them refers to the C lassical m odel o f the Louis X IV p eriod, to the m o st fully form ulated literary d octrine in E u ro p e a t the tim e, the one w hich m anifested itself in m asterpieces on a w orld scale. T his d octrin e is treated , how ever, as an open p ro p o stitio n , to be ad ju sted b o th to the tra d itio n o f the native “ pre-C lassicism ” a n d to the ideology o f the Polish E nlightenm ent.

H ybrid as this m odel is, it ren ders faithfully the ch a ra c te r o f literary evolution in the tim e o f S tanislas A u g u st P o n ia to w sk i’s reign, this ch a rac te r th a t is particu larly co nspicuous in the w orks o f Naruszew icz an d K rasicki. C lassicist literatu re based o n the ra tio n

(10)

L iterary A spects o f Polish Enlightenment

15

alistic prem ises, is assigned for new didactic an d political tasks. It is m ainly satirical, and its reasoning is founded in the rationalistic m eth o d o f searching for the tru th . But underlying the whole trend is an attitu d e akin to th at o f R ousseau —the belief th at the existing form s o f social life are only “ ap p e ara n ces,” since they are degenerated, m an alienated, and th a t m orality should be reb uilt th ro u g h the “ re tu rn to the sources,” to the w orld o f genuine values. A d o p tio n o f this attitu d e led to relevant m odifications w ithin the doctrine itself, as it becam e a p p a ren t th at n o t all genres could be ad a p te d to new needs. This was especially true o f the so-called high, “ ro y a l” genres, such as tragedy and epic poetry, whose outd ated n ess com pelled w riters to go beyond the Classical conventions an d to seek different form s o f expression.

T he o th er m odel o f ad a p tin g C lassicism in the Polish literature o f the E nlightenm ent was represented by such poets as Stanisław T rem becki and K ajetan W ęgierski. T h eir poetry, th ou gh ro o ted in the E picurean an d libertine ideology an d typified by the critical attitu d e , often rebellious tow ards the co n tem p o rary reality, did not aim at form ulating any didactic program m e, a definite vision o f the perfect w orld or a m odel of the positive hero, which w ould change social m entality. T herefore they usually chose sh o rter poetic form s. In both m odels there is a conspicuous tendency to treat the Classicist doctrine as a literary school, a p ro position, open to all m odifications connected with the requirem ents o f co n tem p o ran eity , and not strongly opposed to new trends, b u t seeking to bridge the g ap betw een itself an d b o th rococo and sentim ental experim ents.

R ococo. Sentimentalism. Puławy

T he origin o f rococo is usually associated w ith the changes which to o k place in F rance afte r the crisis o f L ouis X IV 's absolute m o narchy, when the old m o ral stan d ard s were disintegrating, gradually giving w ay to new, E nlightenm ent tendencies. T h e c o u rt cu lture was transform ing, show ing sym ptom s o f decadence an d decay. W hen co m p ared with C lassicism an d B aroque, the new style inspired by V ersailles is m arked by the narrow in g o f the field o f interest, by a sm aller, as it were, caliber o f literary w orks. The art which o rig inated in this co u rt circle renounces the stern didacticism o f the

(11)

16 M ieczysław K lim owicz

Classicist epoch w ith its asp iratio n s to take the all-em bracing view o f the w orld, an d assum es instead the cabinet ch a rac te r w ith incli n ation to sm all form s and refined elegance.

In the P oland o f Stanislas A ugust P oniatow ski the ro co co influ ences were quickly spreading, soon to be w ell-established. T h e exam ple was set by the royal co u rt, who, th o u g h officially p ro m o tin g the C lassicist m odel o f literature, in th eir ow n m an n ers an d style o f life im itated the p attern s com ing from Versailles an d aristo cratic salons o f F rance. T here develops a new kind o f co u rt gallantry, based on the rules o f the rococo love gam e, which were form u lated at the tim e o f M adam e de P o m p a d o u r an d have been enriched since w ith new elem ents tak en from the fu rth e r evolution o f ph ilosophy and literatu re o f the E nlightenm ent. T he first to set the exam ple was the king him self, w ho strived to refashion the S arm atian squires into gentilhommes.

P arks an d gardens laid o u t a ro u n d residences, such as Izabela C zarto ry sk a’s Pow ązki, are faithful copies o f F rench designs. This style, as b o th docum ents an d literature o f the epoch, e.g. K ra sick i’s

Żona modna ( The Wife o f Fashion), testify, quickly diffuses in to the

cou ntry, where, treated as one o f the elem ents o f the clash betw een “ the new ’’ and the w orld o f old custom s, it often prov okes resistance. N otew o rth y is the fact th a t the “novelties” are initiated by w om en; it is they w ho take the lead in salons, a t p arties an d o th er form s o f social life, w ho lay o u t gardens an d design all the fashionable structures th at are to be placed there. T he rococo a rt w ith its postulated delicacy and “sentim ent” was predestined for the fem ale patronag e. Its charm , em anating from ch ina figurines, m iniatures, and paintings o f F ran ço is B oucher an d A n to in e W a tteau , which arrested gestures, situ atio n s a n d style o f th a t belle époque, still appeals to us after two centuries.

A n im p o rtan t role in this cu lture w as played by the figure o f a dandy, a young m an o f fashion. In his m anners, libertine a t titude an d m ethods o f seducing he ap p ro xim ates the m odels fo rm u lated by C h oderlos de Laclos in Liaisons dangereuses (1782), in the full bloom o f the E nlightenm ent. In P o land , how ever, he is to undergo rem arkable changes: he is furnished w ith som e c h a ra c teristics which are positive from the p o in t o f view o f th e E nligh tenm ent lay m oralists. T he title h ero o f Z ab lo ck i’s com edy F ircyk

(12)

Literary A spects o f Polish Enlightenment 17

w zalotach ( The D a n d y’s Courtship) m ay serve as an exam ple: he

professes the E picurean philosophy o f pleasure and jo y o f life, shows aversion for the S arm atian obscurantism , and m anifests his enlightened o u tlo o k in the pose o f the “ p h ilo so p h er,” accepting new catchw ords an d program m es.

A lthough the literature o f Stanislas A ugust P o n iato w sk i’s reign w as developing u nd er the b anner o f Classicism concerned w ith social an d cultural problem s o f reform ing the cou n try , personal rococo inclinations o f the w riters often fo u n d their expression; they are discernible in some o f N aruszew icz’s poem s, an d fairly conspicuous in Trem becki. M iniature m asterpieces o f the refined sim plicity in K ra sick i’s fables prove th at he, too, w as influenced by the fashionable style. A m ong prom inent poets o f the epoch the forem ost rep resen ta tives o f the rococo style were Franciszek K niaźnin, in his first, early period (till 1783), an d Jó ze f Szym anow ski, w hose L isty o guście

(L etters on Taste, 1779) becam e the m anifesto o f rococo literature.

M odifying the C lassical concept o f taste, as its m ain traits he regards sentim ent, delicacy an d accuracy.

Sentim ent is the disposition o f em o tio n al pow ers o f the m an o f high intellectual stan d ard . The p ast m odels, even if acknow ledged as the m ost perfect, are no t to be relied upo n, for they have nu m ero u s blem ishes resulting from a lower cu ltu ral stan d ard . Szy m anow ski believes in progress in the evolution o f taste, and accepts only m odern w orks, and only those which originated in the refined atm o sp h ere o f salons. In the L is ty ... he prop ag ates the p rogram m e o f rococo poetry, rejecting classical didacticism with its precepts an d rules, and paying atten tio n to the artistic perfection o f poem s. H is concept o f poetry is close to th a t o f “ a rt for a r t’s sak e,” alth o u g h he does no t renounce totally the E nlightenm ent public-spirited m otivations, which becom e m anifest in his postu late o f im proving the n atio n al language.

In the literary geography o f the Polish E nlightenm ent only two centres are m ost frequently m ention ed as playing a leading p art in initiating new m odels and program m es, viz. W arsaw an d Puławy. W hile, however, in the capital the k ing’s circle loses its absolute d o m ination a t the tim e o f the F o u r-Y e ars’ Sejm (or D iet) an d insurrection in favour o f new political an d literary groups, Puław y has, in general, a u niform ch a rac te r an d represents an opp osite cultural

(13)

18 M ieczysław Klim ow icz

model. This centre was established in 1783, when A d am C zarto ry ski, at variance with the king, left together w ith his wife an d whole household his W arsaw residence to settle dow n in Pulaw y. R easons o f this m anifestation were purely political: in the 1780’s there cam e to an open conflict betw een S tanislas A ugu st an d a gro u p o f m ag nates.

The king, who in his policy o f alliance with Russia o f necessity agreed to be controlled by the em press’ am bassad or, w anted to gain, by tactical concessions, the em press' consent for carrying o u t reform s which were to m odernize the political system o f the gentry P oland, an d in p artic u la r to strength en the cen tral g overnm ent a n d royal autho rity. In his proceedings he leaned on the lesser gentry, newly won over to this policy, w hom he ennobled an d ad m itte d to high offices, as well as on rich tow nsm en, am ong w hom he also h ad m any supporters.

All this bred grow ing resistance am ong m agnates, in spite o f m ore or less progressive o u tlo o k s o f som e representatives o f the group.

Pulawy o f A d am an d Izabela C zartoryski aspired to create such a m odel o f cultu re which, op posing Classicism , w ould express in the m ost ap p ro p riate way the tendencies an d feelings prevailing in their circle. It is to be noted th a t insp iratio n for such a m odel was sought in m odern trends c u rren t in the co n tem p o rary E u ro p e an art. The leading p a rt in all these u n d ertak in g s was played by Izabela C zartory sk a w ho, despite her superficial ed u cation an d cap riciou s character, m anaged to create in Pulaw y a cu ltural m ilieu w hich for a long tim e was to excercise an im p o rtan t influence o n th e life o f the country. A significant elem ent in this new cu ltu ral policy w as the turn ing to the old-Polish trad itio n s, particu larly in the sphere of m anners, as to those which sho u ld be resto red an d m ain tained . In C zarto ry sk i's residence the rococo wigs and French tails were a b a n d oned for the old Polish gentry costum e. A t the source o f this o sten tatious p atrio tic stylization was the desire to win over the gentry who, owing to ed u catio n al cam paigns organized by the k in g ’s cam p, were becom ing m ore an d m ore enlightened, b u t still cherished sentim ent for the p ast an d old trad itio n s.

The cultural policy o f W arsaw was essentially a n ti-S arm a tian and treated Polish history an d tra d itio n as a suitable g ro u n d for

(14)

p ro ving the to tal d isin tegration a n d co rru p tio n o f in stitutio ns and social norm s o f P olish oligarchy; despite m any set-backs it m et w ith an d despite its attem p ts at com prom ise solutions —particu larly clear in K rasick i’s conception o f the gentry hero, P an Podstoli — it m ain tain ed this character to the end. If, som etim es, the past o r som e his torical figures w ere regarded as m odels, it was strictly determ ined by political tendencies, as in the case o f the cult o f C asim ir the G re a t which, developed in the king’s circle, was to provide a historical argum ent su p po rtin g Stanislas A u g u st’s program m e by draw ing a p a r allel betw een the situations o f the two kings, b o th ruling over the dim inished territo ry an d aim ing at strengthening the cen tral governm ent an d m odernizing the econom ic stru ctu re o f the state.

A dm ittedly, the m yth o f the “ h o n o u ra b le fo refath ers,” which ap p eared in the w orks o f N aruszew icz an d K rasicki, was a historical co n stru c tio n an d served as a p o in t o f reference fo r the criticism o f the degeneration o f co n tem p o rary m anners, b u t it h ad n o t been placed in any precisely defined tim e, an d consequently h ad n o t led to any choice o f a concrete, “ ideal” epoch o f n atio n al history. T he king’s circle, cultivating F ren ch custom s and fashion, and classical literature, could n o t possibly favour those aspects o f the native ch aracter w hich were associated w ith the S arm atian m odel of cu ltu re an d old “ re p u b lic an ” trad itio n s, regarded as hindering the refo rm o f the cou n try . It w as m ag n ates’ circles, an d Puław y in p artic u la r, which in itiated such attem pts.

W hen designing her residence in Puław y afte r 1783, Izabela C zarto ry sk a d ep a rted from the rococo m odel o f Pow ązki. T his is p articu larly noticeable in arch itectu ral changes, an d especially in the design o f the p ark s an d gardens. T he m odel which she ad o p ted was th a t o f the English g arden —w ith its sentim ental concept o f the real, undefiled n atu re o f the A rcad ian period —em bracing in a uniform landscape com po sition w oods, fields, m eadow s, an d even genuine cottages together w ith their in h ab itan ts. T he em phasis w as now n o t on m ythology, b u t on native, p atrio tic elem ents.

In the later p eriod, a t the beginning o f the 19th century, there ap p e a r in Puław y N e o -G o th ic structures, w hich, accordin g to historian s o f a rt, testifies to in troducing p re -R o m an tic elem ents into the senti m ental scenery o f the m ag n ates’ residence. D espite the views held in the early E n lightenm ent, especially by V oltaire, th a t the M iddle

(15)

20 M ieczyslaw Klim owicz

Ages were the period o f b arb arity an d decline o f culture, the time o f the rise o f feudalism w ith its m yths an d institu tio ns —in Pulaw y there are attem p ts a t reh abilitating th a t epoch an d finding in it new m odels an d inspirations.

As early as 1781, young N iem cewicz is com m issioned by his p atro n , C zartoryski, to tran slate two co n tem p o rary F rench rom ances. In the preface to those tran slatio n s we find an apolog y o f the M iddle Ages and courtly love com bined w ith the cult o f bravery a n d p atrio tism , proved in defence o f the coun try. In the tim e o f the F o u r-Y e ars’ Sejm and insurrection, and then du rin g the N a p o  leonic wars, the poetry which flourishes in Pulawy refers to the old Polish m odels o f chivalry, form ulating a new program m e, p articularly evident in the w orks of Jozef Szym anowski.

U n do ub ted ly, this tu rn in g to the past, m arked w ith sentim ent for the bygone ages, w as to som e extent inspired by the social position o f the ow ners o f the residence an d their fam ily trad itio n , in o th er w ords, it was politically justified. O n the o th er h and , how ever, in this search fo r a new m odel a p ro m in en t p a rt was played by attitu d e s ro o ted in sentim entalism , which co n trib u ted to the attractiveness o f the m odels presented in Pulaw y an d conduced to th eir ad o p tio n am ong the gentry.

A n o th er im p o rtan t elem ent in the developm ent o f the new c o n ceptio n o f p atriotism referring to native historical trad itio n s, in creating an atm osphere in which the past is n ot only a stock o f good o r bad exam ples, arb itrarily selected for the purposes o f topical polem ics, but becom es a co-existent reality, was the cult o f O ssian, also p o p u lar in Pulawy. M ac p h erso n ’s evocation o f the rem otest past o f the Scottish nation, w ith its knights o f subtle feelings an d great daring, provided a new vision o f the M iddle Ages as a picture o f the prim eval society, living in the “ n atu ra l sta te .” The W orks o f Ossian, by their m o od o f regret an d atm o sp h ere o f passing o f everything, aw akened this em otion al a ttitu d e to history. R egarded by the co ntem poraries as a genuine do cu m en t from the early p eriod o f the life o f the natio n , tran sm itte d in the folk song, M ac p h erso n ’s poem s becam e an in spiration fo r seeking sim ilar form s on the native gro u n d , an d aro u sed interests in folklore. These were especially keen in Pulawy.

(16)

the influence o f Puław y co n tain ed essentially the sam e elem ents th a t appeared, as an oppositio n to Classicism, in o th er co u ntries in the second h a lf o f the 18th century. In F ran ce the term “ sen tim en talism ” is no t used w ith reference to the new literary tre n d ; its co n n o tatio n s are ra th e r pejorative, since it is associated with the sentim entality o f the 17th-century p asto ra l rom ances, a n d the whole set o f tendencies opposed to Classicism is usually called pre-R om anticism . T he latter term covers also such p h en o m en a as e.g. the form ing o f a new em otional m odel, the essential philosophical m otivation o f w hich is provided by R o u sseau ’s A rcad ian m yth and the postulate o f the “ re tu rn to the sources” —to m ention only such w orks as the p asto rals o f S alom on G essner, R ich ard so n ’s novels, G o e th e ’s Die Leiden des jungen W erther, Julie ou la nouvelle H eloïse an d other w orks o f R ousseau — which in Polish an d G erm an lite ra ture are traditionally reckoned as belonging to sentim entalism .

The essence o f p re-R o m anticism consists, how ever, in setting the so-called m yth o f the N o rth , o r n atio n al antiq u ity , against the m yth o f the S outh, o r the M ed iterran ean culture derived from the G reek and R om an antiqu ity. A considerable role in the genesis o f p re -R o m anticism was played by O ssian poem s, which pointed to the M iddle Ages as to the period o f the rise o f E u ro p ean nations, and b ro u g h t a b o u t an increased interest in the cu ltu re o f th a t epoch. T his influence can be seen in the fam ous “ B ibliothèque des ro m an s ou bibliothèque bleue” (1783) w here the tro u b a d o u r p oetry and rom ances were re-edited, as well as in the intro d u ctio n o f the N eo-G othic style in architecture. T he m odels o f “learn ed ,” classical literature are rejected to be replaced by p ro p o sitio n s o f the “ re tu rn to n a tu re ,” to the prim itive, w hose charm was freshly discovered in folk songs.

A lthough the beginning o f pre-R om anticism in P o land is tra d i tionally th ough t to fall on the first decade o f the 19th century, a closer analysis o f those ph en o m en a shows th a t attitu d e s and tendencies o f th a t kind can be detected already in the 1780’s, especially in Puławy.

A m ong poets from C zarto ry sk i’s circle a n d those connected with Puławy the outstan d in g representatives o f the new tren ds were Franciszek D ionizy K niaźnin in his later perio d an d F ranciszek K arpiński, w hose O wymowie i po ezji (On Rhetoric and Poetry, 1782)

(17)

becam e the m anifesto o f sentim entalism in P oland . H e d ep arts from the rationalistic principle o f getting a t the “ su b stan ce,” o r essence, and from classical criteria o f selection o f the spheres o f inspiration, saying th at p oetry should em brace “ the whole E a rth w ith all its creatures, all th a t su rro u n d s us an d w hatever can be reached by o u r eye or ea r; all ventures o f th o u g h t, p ro m p ted by countless m otives.” Rejecting the classical rules on the g ro u n d o f the em pirical m eth od o f cognition, he em phasizes the im portance o f individual experience, offends against the C lassical principle o f generality by stressing particulars, details, an d instead o f the rh eto ric con ven tio ns o f the lyrical utteran ce he postulates the direct lyrical confession. C en tral in his theory o f sentim ental p oetry is the p o stu late o f the “ tend er h e a rt,” close to R o u sseau ’s idea o f th a t “ voice o f the h e a rt” as the “ voice o f n a tu re ” which is the fo u n d a tio n o f the new m o ral o rd er and em otional relation ships o f an individual w ith the society in their com m o n search for the genuine values as opp osed to the degeneration o f the existing norm s o f the co m m u nity life, institu tio n s an d cultural pattern s. K arpiński, like R ousseau, th in ks th a t only “ sentim ent” determ ines the em otional a ttitu d e to n atu re , and th a t w itho ut this state o f em otion n atu re is dead a n d un stim u latin g to m an.

R esto ratio n o f the pristine h arm o ny o f the m a n ’s n a tu re an d its o utw ard m anifestation, accom plishm ent o f the m oral o rd er an d the “ re tu rn to n a tu re ” are possible only in an individual experience, which at the same tim e reflects the p ro test against den atu ralizatio n o f the “ w orld o f ap p e ara n ces.” T he pre-R o m an tic, O ssianic m odel o f treatin g history as the actually existing reality, provoking the m an to co ntem p late relics o f the old tim es residing in m onum ents, w orks o f a rt an d landscape can also be viewed as stem m ing from this sentim ental program m e. In practice these assum ptions b ro u g h t a b o u t the preference for the lyrical u tteran ce an d such an ap p ro ach to n atu re in which it was n o t trea ted as an o rn am en t, o r a conventional code fo r expressing th o u g h ts a n d im pressions, b u t as an actual biological force, co -o perating w ith m an. W ith the d ep artu re from the classical rh eto ric stan d ard s new form s an d sources o f inspiration were sought in folk literature, an d the excessively m etapho rical language was avoided, as can be seen

(18)

in such K arp iń sk i’s poem s as D o Justyny. Tęskność na wiosnę (To

Justyna. Longing in Spring) and Przypomnienie dawnej m iłości (R e mem brance o f an O ld Love). T h e pre-R om antic tu rn tow ards the

M iddle Ages and tow ards the beginnings o f the natio n al culture, analo g o u s to those tendencies which in F rance bro u g h t a b o u t an interest in the tro u b a d o u r poetry, found its expression in K arpiń - ski’s Duma Lukierdy, an a tte m p t a t the reconstruction o f an old folk song.

T he predom inant them e in the m ajority o f sentim ental lyrical poets is love. The them e has, in K arpiński, for instance, its philos ophical, social, and even p atrio tic m otivation. In his little treatise,

O szczęściu człowieka. L ist do R o zyn y (On Happiness o f M an. A L etter to R o zyn a , 1783) he defines love as the p rim ary biological force

which ensures real happiness; love —an d here he is at one w ith the m erc an tilists—conduces to the developm ent o f the society, to the p o p u latin g o f the coun try, and, consequently, to its w elfare and m ilitary potential.

W hile for an individual citizen the greatest happiness is love, says K arpiński, for the n atio n it is m aking the cou n try p op ulous, as “ the greater the p o p u latio n the m ore lan d is ploughed, the m ore advanced is hu m an industry an d the easier the bliss o f frien d sh ip .” T herefore, for good citizens an d soldiers to be b o rn an d b ro u g h t up, form s in which love is m anifested a n d the w hole atm osp here aro u n d it are n o t a m atter o f indifference. In O szczęściu K arp iń sk i sets Polish w om en im p o rtan t edu catio n al tasks which can be perform ed th an k s to the charm s w ith which the “ fair sex” is endow ed by n atu re. T his p rog ram m e o f the chivalrous educatio n is to lead lovers to “ the path o f h o n o u r an d g lo ry .”

T he sentim entalists form ulated in their p atrio tic lyrical p oetry a new version o f the courtly, chivalrous love, stylized after the m edieval m odels u n d er the influence o f b o th R om ance poetry an d old Polish trad itio n s, and furnished w ith m odern, enlightened justification. The m o tif o f the k n ig h t’s farewell to his sw eetheart on his going to war, so p o p u la r at the time, was developed in the course o f all successive n atio n al uprisings, an d has survived to o u r day in a p o p u lar song

Bywaj dziew czę zdrowe, ojczyzna m nie woła (Fare thee well, maiden, m y country calls me).

(19)

Native Elements and Jacobinic Tendencies

W hen in 1788 the F o u r-Y e ars’ Sejm assem bles, the new generation th a t com es into prom inence is a generation b ro u g h t u p in the atm o sphere o f the E nlightenm ent and educated in its schools.

The idea o f the pacifica rivoluzione (m ild revolution), called so in co ntradisctinction to the F ren ch one, im plied p rep arin g m inds to salutary reform s on the basis o f the m od ern conception o f the nation, form ulated by the chief ideologists o f the “enlightened S arm atian ism ,” Stanisław Staszic and H ugo K ołłątaj. Instead o f the exclusive privilege o f m agnates and the gentry, typical o f feudalism , they p o stu lated a system founded on hegem ony o f the gentry an d the tow nspeople. D espite m any beautiful passages w ritten in the defence o f p easants, they were n ot to play any im p o rtan t role in form ing the m o dern n ation. It was the lesser gentry w ho were considered to represent the real nation al traditions, w hereas m agnates an d the k in g ’s p arty were accused o f the cult o f the foreign fashions and o f h olding native custom s and culture in contem pt. Even then, how ever, th ere were w riters who, as Franciszek Salezy Jezierski, differed in their conceptions o f w hat is “n a tio n a l” from Staszic and K ołłątaj, an d deem ed folk, plebeian trad itio n s —and not those o f the gentry —to be decisive for the characteristics o f the natio n. “ T he nobility is sim ilar th ro u g h o u t E urope, in all n a tio n s,” w rote Jezierski. “ It is the co m m o n alty which m akes nations different, keeps up native custom s an d lan g u ag e.” Likewise, in his novel Rzepicha, m a tka królów (R zepicha, the M other

o f Kings, 1791) he transfers a universalist version o f the N ip u island

to Poland, and stresses the folk beginnings o f the n atio n , the fact which is especially notew orthy a t the tim e when this n atio n advances tow ards its m odern stage. These views are only stren gthen ed w ith the experiences o f the insurrection, an d they acquire th eoretical justification in the folkloristic pro g ram m e o f K ołłątaj.

In the atm osph ere o f excitem ent, o f sharp, often radical, polem ics an d the rising tide o f patrio tism there ap p e ar tendencies to base a new m odel o f m anners an d style o f life on old Polish trad itio n s. P atrio tic deputies, the “ enlightened S arm atian s,” ostentatio usly p u t on the “ n atio n a l” costum e, the tails o f the “ E u ro p e a n ” gentlem an being finally ridiculed and held in co ntem p t.

(20)

ce-Literary Aspects o f Polish Enlightenment 25

w icz’s Powrót posła {The D e p u ty’s R eturn) the “ enlightened S a rm a tia n ,” p a trio t and ad h eren t o f the C o n stitu tio n o f M ay 3 is com pletely reh abilitated on the stage o f the n atio n al theatre. A n o th er type o f experim ents, the crow ning o f which is W ojciech B ogusław ski’s Kra

kow iacy i górale (Cracovians and M ountaineers), a com ic o pera, staged

on the eve of the insurrection, brings the first successful creations o f folk, peasant characters as lyrical heroes. T he com ic op era proved to be the only 18th-century form in which these characters, together w ith their folklore, could enter into literatu re an d th eatre. A fter unsuccessful attem p ts a t in tro ducing ch aracters o f tow nsm en in Bau- d o u in ’s operas, B ogusław ski’s m odel, culm inating the long process o f form ing the “n atio n a l” them e, w as to prevail.

A s it has been proved by Czeslaw H ernas, the text o f K rako

wiacy i górale is replete w ith q u o tatio n s o f au then tic folk an d old

Polish poetry, which helped to create a lyrical folk hero. T hus, the tendencies th at can be traced back to the “ M o n ito r” w ith its view on the Polish “ th ird esta te ” as being m orally equal to the others, were given an artistic form . D uring the 18th century the anti-C lassicist trends were grow ing an d folk poetry was increasingly — an d on various grounds —exploited in the official literature to com e, to w ards the end o f the century, to be treated as a historical source illustrating the “ prim eval” history o f the n ation. This was a n o th e r interesting form o f locating the m yth o f the “ h o n o u ra b le fo refath e rs” an d the w orld o f genuine values. A dam N aruszew icz an d T adeusz C zacki po stulate ethnograp hy as a historical science, and a m atu re pro gram m e o f the folkloristic research is fo rm u lated by H ugo K o łłątaj at the tu rn o f the century. T he poetry o f K arpiński and, to som e extent, o f K niaźnin can also be associated w ith those tendencies.

A p art from the theatre, an interesting process testifying the search for new form s o f expression is to be observed in the poetry o f the F ou r-Y ears’ Sejm . This poetry, im bued w ith patrio tism , violently attacking the enemies o f the C o n stitu tio n an d reaction ary m agnates, derives from entirely different m odels from those developed by classical poetry. The leading poet o f th a t tim e, F ranciszek Z abłocki, in his poem Do fia kró w {To Cabmen), w ritten in the ode form , uses m ythological accessories, characteristic o f the genre, only to reject them com pletely in the closing lines: “ I call you in the nam e o f love for the country, not for J u n o .” The poetry o f the F o u r-Y e ars’

(21)

Sejm to a considerable extent avails itself o f the B aroque m odels,

such as p araphrases o f religious texts, song, riddle, appeal, litany, folk stylizations —i.e. o f form s which can be fo u n d in num erous

silvae o f the Saxon p eriod an d in the tim e o f the C on fed eration

o f Bar.

W ith the o u tb rea k o f the insurrection these tendencies intensify — tran slatio n s o f the revolutionary poetry o f the F rench Jaco b in s are accom panied by m arches a n d songs o f native origin. A lso used are m otives o f the po etry o f thrill and h o rro r, typical o f the B aroque. The hitherto ridiculed figure o f the m o n k undergoes a significant change, to becom e a sim ple m an, to the E nlightenm ent taste, one o f those to be m et in the W arsaw crow d in the spring o f 1794, lynching traitors.

This po etry does n o t resem ble the C lassical m od el; its pro ph etic elem ents, the use o f drastic pictures an d strong w ords indicate th at its origin is to be sought in the B aroque trad itio ns. It does not m ean, however, th a t the developm ent o f the Classicist p oetry is suddenly and com pletely d isru p ted ; this poetry still develops and even reveals its usefulness for the purposes o f the revolu tio nary didacticism , especially in such form s as ode an d poetic epistle, whose rhetoric — althoug h ap p ro p riately adjusted —is to be foun d in the w orks o f p oet-Jacobin, Jak u b Jasiński. N evertheless, som e o f these experi m ents testify to new trends in literature, which ap p eared a t the time when, in the atm osphere o f radicalization o f views, grow ing patriotism and the fight for independence, the m o d ern Polish n atio n w as being form ed. In the sphere o f literature this process, in terru p te d by loss o f n ation al independence in 1795, w as characterized by a singular sym biosis o f trad itio n an d novelty, S arm atian ism an d E nlightenm ent, by the search for a n atio n al form for expressing new attitu d e s and contents.