Zofia Sinko
"Powiastka w oświeceniu
stanisławowskim", Zofia Sinko,
Wrocław 1982 : [recenzja]
Literary Studies in Poland 15, 121-125
Book Reviews
Comptes rendus de livres
Z o f i a S i n k o. Powiastka w oświeceniu stanisławowskim (The Tale in
the Polish Enlightenment), O ssolineum , W roclaw 1982, 332 pp.
T he present study investigates m ore than a h u nd red tales which functioned in P olish literatu re in the second h a lf o f the 18th century. They are m ainly tran slatio n s from French, a sm aller num ber com es from English or G erm an, while som e are original com positions by Polish au th o rs. The tales appeared m ainly in periodicals, in various, m iscellaneous collections and anthologies, som etim es they were p ub li shed as sep arate pam phlets or collected editions o f several volumes. A part from the investigation o f the p articu lars o f the reception o f foreign tales in P olan d and o f their native p ro d u ctio n , the m ain p ro cedure which proves necessary in order to deal with the m ultifarious m aterial is to establish the typology of the genre. In the present study it is d one accord ing to the categories o f didactic function, o f the p hilo sophical and cognitive content, the kind o f purely en tertainin g ele m ent and, on the other h an d, o f the co nstruction o f plots. R eception o f the W estern E u ro p ean tale in the Polish E nlightenm ent being am ple and representativ e (with the single exception o f conte galant and
licentieu.x), it ap peared possible to use the co rpus o f translated tales
as the basis for typological divisions which m ay be treated as valid for the genre as evolved in the 18th century.
C h ap ter I o f the study serves as a general intro duction . It gives a brief historical ou tline o f the developm ent o f the French conte in the 18th cen tury (m ost o f the tales in the literatu re o f the Polish E n lightenm ent cam e from F rance) an d reconstructs the historical poetics
o f the genre m ainly according to F rench critical opinions. Polish opi nions on the subject were but few and referred only to one type o f tale —the O riental one. T he poetics o f the conte as form ulated by French critics and w riters o f the l # h century is then con fron ted with the present-day view o f the m ain structural characteristics o f the genre. G lo b al definitions and all-em bracing generalizations are n o t
gi-122 B ook R e v ie w s
ven as they prove b o th im possible and inadvisable on account o f the high degree o f differentiation within the lim its o f the notion o f conte.
Eighteenth-century pron o u n cem en ts on the conte prove that no strict n o rm ative rules were applied to the genre and th a t the co ntem poraries were aw are o f its m obile and changing form . The story could be based on evidently im prob able o r openly m iraculous events (as in fairy tales, o r tales ap p ro ach in g the apologue), b u t it also could reflect the observation o f reality while paying respect to a certain verisim ilitu de o f events (as in tales dealing with con tem p o rary custom s and m an ners). There was also considerable freedom in story co n stru ctio n : w hat was po stu lated was unity o f action, b u t no unity o f tim e and place. The sam e principle is accepted to-day as one o f the features o f the genre. Plots could co n cen trate aro u n d one single event or grow m ore com pli cated, bu t in accordance with the en try conte in D id e ro t’s Encyclopedic the progress o f events had to be com p act and h ad to possess a unity o f purpose. 18th-century p ro n o u n cem en ts on the tale co ntain alm ost n o rem arks on its heroes which proves th at events were considered to play a m ore im p o rtan t p a rt th a n characters. The latter are often no m ore th an pupp ets th a t are m an ip u lated by the n a rra to r according to the philosophical idea o r didactic tendency o f the text. The person o f n a rra to r thus acquires a very im p o rta n t statu s alth ou gh its im portance is no t reflected in 18th century critical opinions on the tale. As to the contents, 18th century criticism adm itted a very wide range o f subjects as a result o f the various ways in which the tale was expected to affect its readers. M uch atten tio n was paid to style which was prescribed as “lively,” “d elicate,” and “w itty” . This very requirem ent was, how e ver, often neglected. M any o f th e tales tran slated in the Polish Enlighten m ent are characterized either by high-flown sententiousness or by
dow nrig ht colloquial style.
C h ap ter II discusses the stru ctu re o f the contes de fe e s (as represented by F énelon, M m e Le P rince de B eaum ont, P arad is de M o n crif and a few anonym o us au th o rs) which appeared in Polish versions. They m ake use o f the tópoi perp etu ated in F rench folklore as well as in the
contes o f P errau lt, b u t the difference is th a t they stress the role o f fe e s
as m entors and teachers and m ake the m oral o f the story m ore sharply outlined on account o f its d estination for young readers. C hap- p ter III deals with the different kinds o f tales and fairy tales included in L es M ille et une nuits — a collection o f G allan d th a t was extrem ely
p o p u lar in P o lan d and the translation o f which had eight editions in the 18th century (I ed. 1768), no t to speak o f num erous publications o f separate tales. A n o th er collection o f O riental fables and tales which was published in P oland b o th in French and in Polish was L es Fables
politiques et morales de Pilpai, philosophe indien. It consists o f short
fables and tales which are full o f m axim s and proverbial sayings. C h a p ter IV is w holly devoted to the Polish version o f C a z o tte ’s conte fantasti
que entitled L e Diable am oureux co n tra stin g the type o f fantastic
world as presented here with the kind o f the m iraculous which is to be found in fairy tales. The conte galant and conte licentieux which were so p o p u lar in F rance are only poorly represented by Polish translations. They are dealt with in ch ap ter V in which special atten tio n is given to Aline, reine de Golconde by Boufflers and to
L e Congrès de C ythère by A lgarotti. C h ap ter VI discusses the contes philosophiques o f V oltaire in Polish versions (Z a d ig , Candide, Babouc, L ’Ingénu and a few sh o rter contes), dealing with their stru ctu re and
their critical and philosophical message.
O f all kinds o f contes the m ost w idespread in Polish reception was the didactic tale. The num ber o f respective items is so large and so diversified th a t tney had to be treated in tw o divisions: exam plary tales and m oral tales. T he first group, treated in ch a p te r VII, includes m ainly allegorical tales, tales in the antique setting and O riental tales. All of them deal w ith ethical problem s such as m an 's attitu d e to eternal and tem poral life, o r his duties tow ards his fellow -creatures, they also in clude w arnings against com m on faults and vices. T he tales often use the device o f d ream , o f vision, or o f a voyage to allegorical countries (as in A d d iso n ’s fam ous Vision o f M irza). Som etim es the tale consists o f a series o f events in the life o f a virtuous h ero (as in the tales o f Fénelon), som etim es it presents the hero 's progress from vice to vir tue (as in M rs. S heridan Nourjahad), or the tales co ncen trate upon one im p o rtan t event in the h e ro ’s life in which he is able to prove his virtue. T h u s all the exem plary tales can be fitted into a few sharply outlined schem es o f plots. A p a rt from the above-m entioned nam es the list o f a u th o rs w ho were tran slated into Polish includes Levesque, Saint- -L am bert, M ercier, F lorian, B aculard d ’A rn au d , A ddison, Jo hn son , and H aw kesw orth. A considerable num ber o f au th o rs could n o t be identified.
124 B ook R e v ie w s
the form er exclusively to the w orks o f M arm ontel whose fam ous
Contes m oraux enjoyed a great p o p u larity in Polish translations,
while the latter ch ap ter deals with the stories by M arm o n tel’s imi tato rs. The contes o f M arm ontel are divided into hu m ou ro us, serious and sentim ental ones while atten tio n is being paid to their plots, m oral reflections and their n arrativ e art. The ch a p te r devoted to m oral tales by o ther au th o rs is preceded by a discussion o f the relation between the conte and the nouvelle: it proves im possible to draw a clear line o f division between m oral tales presenting con tem p o rary custom s and m anners and didactic novelettes o f m an ners. T h at is why the principle o f selection in the chap ter is to include for discussion only texts in which the plot evidently aim s at presenting a general m oral principle or a m oral lesson in specific circum stances, as is the case o f M arm o n tel and with exem plary tales. The stories usually consist o f a few happenings with one suggestively outlined central event which is often presented with p ath os as a tearful m oving scene. O ne o f the m asters o f such effects was B aculard d ’A rnaud o f whose Délassement de l ’hom m e sensible there appeared a fair-sized selection in Polish tran slatio n . B oth M arm ontel and other au th o rs are m ainly interested in family relations —the right choice o f spouse, or the relations between p aren ts and children. Som e tales (like L a Sym pathie o f M ercier) centre on the m o tif o f friendship, others praise and p ro p a g ate the virtue o f m ercy and benevolence while still others present p attern s o f happy existence based on family love and virtue practised in sim ple rural life (e.g. Sara T h *** by S aint-L am bert, or L ’Hep reuse fa m ille by L ezay-M arnezia). A lso som e tales dealing with noble savages or ingénus were translated into Polish with B ernardin de S aint-P ierre’s L a Chaumière indienne at their head.
In co n trast with the am ple and diversified reception in P oland o f the W estern E uro pean tale, o ur own p ro d u ctio n o f this kind was ra th e r small. It is presented in ch a p te r X in which the first place goes to Ignacy K rasicki, the a u th o r o f 19 tales m ainly in O riental setting published between 1786 — 1803. Their n arratio n is concise, their plots ra th e r sim ple and their m oral point strongly em phasized. T he 7 O riental tales by Ja n P otocki (published in French in his Voyages in 1788—1792 and soon translated into Polish) testify to their a u th o r’s genuine interest in the literature and
civilization o f the East. P o to c k i’s tales present sceptical reflections on the co n d itio n o f m an and on m a n ’s attitu d e to happiness which brings them closer to the type o f conte philosophique. Fi nally, tw o openly didactic tales were w ritten by Franciszek K a r piński while tw o allegorical tales (one o f them by K rasicki) allude to the d ram atic events in P oland between 1792 and 1794 at the m om ent o f its defeat and loss o f independence.
The final c h a p te r o f the study brings the conclusion th a t the genre o f the 18th cen tury tale ca n n o t be covered by a single definition or reduced to a unified description. As to the tendency o f the tales, one m ay observe th a t the exem plary an d m oral tales p ro p ag ated social and family virtues which were m eant to ensure the h appiness o f the individual and o f the entire society. P articu lar im po rtance was attached to benevolence —the card inal virtue o f the m oral co de o f the E nlightenm ent. M any tales expressed their a u th o rs’ optim istic view a b o u t m a n ’s innate goodness, or at least ab o u t his ability o f being im proved an d perfected by experience, by rational persuasion or by an appeal to the feelings o f pity and to em otional sensibility with which n atu re has endow ed any individual. The m odel o f life as p ro p a g ated by the tales was usually based on the idea o f aurea mediocritas to be realized in sim ple ru ral life in the family circle, in joyful lab o u r or in well-m erited repose, far away from the c o rru p tio n and luxury o f tow ns and courts. It should not be fo rg o tten th a t rustic m yth m ade its im pact not only in the sphere o f belles-lettres, th at its ideological and social m otivations were co m plicated and m anifold, finally th at it underw ent certain m odifications m ainly ow ing to the inspirations by R ousseau.
The rustic and idyllic m otives in the 18th century tale co rres ponded with the trad itio n o f the Polish way o f life as reflected in literatu re in which the pleasures and advantages o f cou ntry life h ad been praised as a source o f happiness already in the period o f the R enaissance. A p a rt from coinciding with Polish trad ition the tales served the actual needs o f the co u n try by dealing with the m ost essential social and m oral problem s a f the age o f E n lightenm ent, by su p p o rtin g the belief in m a n ’s ability o f im proving him self and his society,fas well as by stressing the value o f good exam ples and o f good educatio n.
