Matecznik i jego białoruskie korzenie. Mickiewiczowska filozofia przyrody w Panu Tadeuszu

Abstract

Description of the backwoods from Pan Tadeusz stands out – both in the context of the epoch as well as other writings of Mickiewicz – with a strong non-anthropocentric perspective. Using methods of ecocriticism in this paper, I will try to present the emancipatory aspect of the description of the backwoods as a place untouched by a human, and in its entirety left to nature and the processes occurring in it. I analyze poetical portrayals of the wild nature included in the fragment of the poem under discussion, both those characterized by the realism of description as well as those which were idolized. I will also try to put issues that are being discussed here in a broader context of Mickiewicz’s attitude towards nature and the spot he puts it in on his metaphysical-theological map of beings.