Infernalne i edeńskie – Sienkiewiczowskie Listy z podróży

Abstract

The article unfolds a dualistic interpretation of the texts of Henryk Sienkiewicz – the letters from trips and excursions attended by the author in the second half of the 19th century. Here, the dichotomy is understood as a: bright/Edenic and dark/infernal quality of the realm described in the correspondence. These two perspectives of the epistolary craft of Sienkiewicz were placed in the broad philosophical context of the biblical Book of Kohelet and the primary idea of vanitas it develops. With this intention, the images of the cities (of London, Paris, New York City, Rome, and Venice) drawn in the letters were subjected to an exegesis, with the accentuation (and reference to the whole of existence) of their vain nature.