Między Bałtykiem a Euksynem. Horyzont etniczny w krajopisarstwie Juliana Ursyna Niemcewicza i Stanisława Platera

Abstract

The author aims to look at the mental maps of the Polish world outlined in the beginning of the 19th century in order to stabilize and retain the image of this world after the cataclysm of Napoleonic wars and the ensuing political transformations. The article is an analysis of the works by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz (1758-1841) and Stanisław Plater (1784-1851). The author claims that Niemcewicz undertook the task of sketching not only his personal reminiscences, but also a new mental map of the Polish world as an entity which was somewhat stabilized, if not quite steady and secure. In this vein he wrote a sort of historical reportage entitled ‘Podróże historyczne po ziemiach polskich’ (published in 1858) as well as a series of patriotic poems entitled ‘Śpiewy historyczne’ (1816), the historical treatise ‘Dzieje panowania Zygmunta III’ (1819) and the historical romance ‘Jan z Tęczyna’ (1825). Stanisław Plater (1784-1851), born to a famous Livonia family, wrote his ‘Jeografia wschodniey części Europy’ with the similar aim of portraying the Poles against the background of the ever-changing political geography of Eastern Europe.