Między Uniwersytetem Wileńskim a Szkołą Główną. Eliptyczność dziewiętnastowiecznych narracji o tradycji naukowej

Abstract

The fundamental scientific base of the article are lectures and articles published in 1900 titled Materiały i opracowania dotyczące historii wyższych zakładów naukowych w Polsce (Scientific studies about the history of higher research facilities in Poland), especially Uniwersytet Wileński (Vilnius University) by Józef Bieliński and a collective study Szkoła Główna Warszawska (Warsaw Main School), as well as the alumna visitors’ books of the anniversary congresses of the Main School. Narratives about the nineteenth century Polish academic institutions demonstrate connections between them, but also indicate the problem of the destruction of the continuity of scientific tradition and the primacy of literature over (and its battle with) science in the nineteenth century social consciousness. Unexpectedly, this mechanism enhances the authority of Adam Mickiewicz. Because of this fact, the article includes a reflection on the selected nineteenth century studies which deal with the poet’s university experience. Such a context allows to notice the mechanism of establishing and overruling the ideas of the Philomacy group as a means of transgressing the limitations of the university.