Strategiczny realizm i czarna groteska. Dwie Odessy Józefa Sękowskiego

Abstract

The artile shows how the Polish and Russian writer and researcher in Oriental studies Józef Sękowski (1800–1851) created representations of Odessa in his writings. First, he depicted the city in his Diary of the Journey from Vilnius to Odessa and Istanbul (part 3) as a boring but developing place, and with a thriving educational system. It was a matter-of-fact and unadorned account, yet not devoid of a critical tinge, and focused mainly on the educational system. It was written in Polish, while Sękowski was travelling to the East. In 1833, after a breakup with Polish communities, he – now a Russian writer – represented Odessa in his grotesque, ironic novel The Fantastic Travels of the Baron Bamberus. This time the narrative mainly derides the inhabitants of Odessa. The city is a distant, parochial part of Russia, which can be reached by means of treading on quagmire so as to set off on an eastward journey across the Black Sea. Sękowski drew on his 1819 Polish account, but saturated the text with irony. From both literary representations of Odessa Sękowski emerges as a man in mask, full of complexes (concerning his status, identity, authority), and engaging in calculative plays with people and the state.