Duch stepowy u Adama Mickiewicza i Józefa Bohdana Zaleskiego: paralele literackie

Abstract

In her sketch, the Ukrainian scholar from Kyiv analyses the significance of the steppe in the works of two poets: Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855), representative of the so-called Lithuanian school in Polish Romantic poetry, and Józef Bohdan Zaleski (1802–1886), representative of the Ukrainian school. In Zaleski’s work, the steppe appears to be an inspiring space, offering hope, despite many aspects evoking sadness and melancholy (graves, tumuli) left there by history. In Zaleski’s work, the steppe is an element of the Romantic Arcadia. The latter, however, is not only a stereotypical idyllic land of joy and beauty. This type of Arcadia is created with the poetic word, ensuring man’s permanence of existence, better perception of the world and allowing him to find his place in space and history. The closeness and familiarity of the steppe also stems from the author’s knowledge of Ukrainian oral folk art and his understanding of the importance of the steppe to Ukrainian culture. For the author of Spirit from the Steppe, the steppe is the space in which the history of the whole world, of the whole of humanity, is played out, including human development and decline. Mickiewicz is less familiar with Ukrainian culture, which is why he understands the steppe differently. In Mickiewicz’s works, the world is narrowed down to the perspective of the poet’s reception – a wanderer, an outstanding individual, sensitive to the world, craving the spirit of this space, but not feeling it as an important place for all mankind, a place that defines one’s identity.