Pisma rozproszone. Tom III. Eseje i publicystyka 1914-1918

Abstract

The whole oeuvre of Tadeusz Miciński (1873–1918), a classic of Young Poland literature, has not been brought together and published as a collection so far. In course books and scholarly articles, the writer– considered one of the most notable lyricists, playwrights, and novelists of the epoch–is interpreted only through the prism of his well–known texts; in fact, most of his poetry, essays and articles remain uncollected. The project financed by the National Program for the Development of Humanities (No 1aH 15 0322 83): “The Critical Edition of Tadeusz Miciński’s Uncollected Writings in Four Volumes: Essays, Lyrics, Journalism” aims to find, collect, and critically edit such writings. Volume I, including the texts written between 1896–1908, was published in 2017. Volume II, collecting the essays and articles written between 1909–1914, was published in 1918. The present volume brings together Miciński’s writings from 1914–1918 (precisely from August 1914, i.e. from the outbreak of WWI). They are grouped thematically and arranged in a chronological order of original publication dates. The first and the shortest assemblage (“The Great War: The Beginnings of Poland”) offers Miciński’s opinions expressed during the so–called Warsaw period, i.e. from October 1914 to September 1915 (between August and October 1914 Miciński was interned in Kaluga, Russia). The assemblage features an interesting reportage relating to the battle of Pruszków and Ivanogrod, and their aftermath (“New Life”).The second thematic assemblage (“The Moscow’s Paving”) is divided in two parts. The first (“The Polish Question with Russia Behind”) concerns the Polish question linked to a Russian context and features the articles written by Miciński in Moscow and Petersburg (Petrograd) after his arrival in Russia: the manifesto “In the Depths of a Nation” (1915), a narrative essay “What Direction Did Poland Take?” (1916), and “The National Hammer Mill” (1916), in which Miciński discusses the most burning issues of the Polish colony in Russia. The second part collects the texts, in which the writer focuses on other nations, but almost always comparing or contrasting their situation with the plight of Poles. Interestingly, three out of the five articles were written in Russian: dedicated to Bulgaria “Поляки и Болгары” (1915), to Italy “Гимнь Италiи” (1916), and to Serbia “Замокъ королевича Марко” (1916). In addition, this part includes a Polish (different from a Russian one) version of “Prince Mark’s Castle” (1916) and “Tatars in Moscow” (1917), which focuses on a Pan–Russian Congress of Muslims. The third thematic assemblage (“Dusk of the Empire. Miciński between the February Revolution and the October Putsch”) is also divided in two parts and includes Miciński’s texts written between the February Revolution and the Bolshevik Coup (March–November 1917) as well as a few articles written soon afterwards (December 1917 – January 1918). In the first part, “From the Trenches and from the Edifices of Petrograd and Moscow”, the reader will find a series of reportages about the life in Polish military units in Russia and about various gatherings, mass meetings and reunions (both Polish and Russian), in which Miciński inserts numerous quotations from the speeches by Polish and Russian politician and officers as well as his own commentaries and political prognoses. The second part, “Political and Anniversary Manifestos–the Last Excursion into National Issues”, brings together the texts written over a brief period of time. “The Historical Day” (1917) is both a manifesto and a reportage on the centenary of Tadeusz Kościuszko’s death; “May 3” (1917) is a speech honoring the anniversary of the Constitution of May 3.The forth thematic assemblage, “Posthumous Memoir with Literature Behind It”, collects both commemorative texts (“In Praise of Sienkiewicz”, “Poland in Sienkiewicz’s Works”, 1916, and “Shaman”, which honors Adam Szymański, the author of Sketches), as well as those in which a tribute paid to artists who died recently is only a pretext to reconsider the role of writer in time of war (“Verhaerna’s Fate”, 1917). In the fifth thematic assemblage, “Literature and Art–Reviews, Programs, Reports”, the reader will find reviews of the Alexander Tairow Teatr Kameralny’s performances (“Theatre of Futurism”, 1916); written in Russian attempts to describe the nature Kazimierz Stabrowski’s and Konstanty Czurlanis’s paintings (“Литургія красоты”, 1916); or a literary–political article on Mickiewicz’s idea of mission in the context of the attitudes displayed by two Italian thinkers– Niccolo Machiavelli and Giuseppe Mazzini (“Mickiewicz, Mazzini, and Machiavelli”, 1917). Miciński combines literary criticism with theatre review and his polemical urge in the article “The Aurochs’ Horn and Dark Powers” (1917). One text, “To the Templars, Letter One”, constitutes a separate assemblage entitled “Epilogue: After the Red October.” The latter was written by Miciński before his sudden death. The seventh assemblage, “The texts of Uncertain Authorship”, collects the writings that possibly may have been written by Miciński, but their authorship is not fully confirmed. The volume ends with five Annexes, which highlight facts from the writer’s biography during the so-called Russian period (1915–1918), paying special attention to the final weeks of his life (the articles by Stanisław Strumph-Wojtkiewicz and the writer’s son, Jarosław Miciński). There is also one article dedicated to Poland, written by Miciński’s Russian friend, Konstantin Balmont (“A Bright Land”). The concluding text of the volume is an unpublished letter written in 1915 by Miciński to an unidentified member of the Society of Slavic Culture in Moscow. Volume III was edited by Marcin Bajko, PhD, and Professor Jarosław Ławski, the Faculty of Philology at the University of Białystok.Miciński’s texts are given multiple footnotes, which, so it is hoped, significantly facilitate a reading process. The volume opens with theEditors’ Introductions, which discuss the collected essays and journalism from the period 1914–1918. The whole project, i.e. all four planned volumes, is supervised by its Head, Marcin Bajko and Jarosław Ławski (Chair in Philological Studies “East–West” at the University of Białystok). Professor Anna Wydrycka (The University of Białystok) and Łukasz Zabielski, PhD (The Łukasz Górnicki Library) have contributed to the editorial process. The last volume of Tadeusz Miciński’s Uncollected Writings is due to be published in 2020 (Volume IV, Uncollected Poetry 1896–1918).