Śladami utopii tatrzańskiej – Na przełęczy Stanisława Witkiewicza

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the novel On the Mountain Pass by Stanisław Witkiewicz, which resembles a reportage – an account of a journey to Morskie Oko. This work is an interesting study on the emerging phenomenon of mass tourism. On the Mountain Pass exemplifies the modernist fascination with mountains as an Arcadian space, where contact with the Absolute was sought. It is here that an antidote to the pessimistic vision of the world’s future and the fatalistic concept of human life associated with the philosophical propositions of Schopenhauer, Darwin and Nietzsche was sought. Witkiewicz is fascinated not only by the highlanders, who personify original vitalism, strength and fortitude of spirit, but also by the culture of Podhale. Wandering the mountain trails was not only a cure for melancholy and decline connected with the approaching end of the century, but also restored the lost bond between man and nature.