Od reminiscencji do antecedencji – Kostomarov, Reymont i Orwell. Rekonesans

Abstract

Bunt [Revolt] (1924) by Władysław Stanisław Reymont and Animal Farm (1946) by George Orwell display many parallels, probably stemming from the common provenance of the two works, which can be traced to the work Skotskoy bunt [Skotskoj rebellion] (1879) by the Ukrainian writer Nikolai Kostomarov. The works deploy allegory in the construction of dystopian worlds inhabited by animals that rebel against humans. They share a number of motifs, characters and plot patterns, including, most importantly, the desire to overthrow man’s hegemony, which turns against the anthropomorphized heroes. The texts also differ significantly in the circumstances of their creation, the source of imaginative transfer, the symbolism and, finally, the purpose of the animal revolution. The article aims to trace the antecedence and mutual intersection of the works in question.