Obraz Turcji i jej mieszkańców w „Poselstwie wielkim” (1732) Franciszka Gościeckiego na tle staropolskiego dyskursu antytureckiego

Abstract

This article, taking into account prevailing ways of describing Turkey and its inhabitants in sixteenth and seventeenth century Polish literature, analyses Poselstwo wielkie (1732) by Franciszek Gościecki – an epic telling of Stanisław Chomętowski’s diplomatic venture from the years 1712 to 1714. Gościecki, fulfilling his historic obligation to describe the activity of the deputy, idealises him and criticises his opponents, which is typical of the literary style of the genre. On the other hand, as a conventional diarist, he describes a wide spectrum of Turkish customs, not stinting on positive comments on aspects of Turkish polity, infrastructure, social life and even religion. In matters he found contradictory to his faith and Polish customs, he speaks sceptically, but without hostility or contempt, which was unusual at the time when diarists