Braterstwo i służba : rzecz o pisarstwie Aleksandra Kamińskiego

Abstract

The present book is a monograph on Aleksander Kaminski’s life and work. If concerns merely one aspect of his activity, i.e. writing, which is, however, an uncommonly important and not yet fully researched aspect Both Kammski’s work and his life were strongly connected with his greatest love, the movement of scouts and cub scouts. Without understanding what the Polish scouting used to mean, Aleksander Kammski’s attitude and activity may appear difficult to grasp. This is why the whole of his written works are shown in connection with the history of the Polish scouting, and presented as a form of his Service to that most important of the decisions he took in his life. Aleksander Kamiński (1903—1978), the founder of the institution of cub scouts in Poland, a prominent scouting activist of the inter-war period, one of tzhe founders of the celebrated “Gray Ranks”, an editor of the famous “Information Bulletin,” and a scholar, was also a great writer. Everything he wrote, no matter whether it was a manual for the cub scouting instructors, an autobiographic story, a short story, or a strictly scholarly dissertation, was always authentic, deeply thought over, and always very honest. Even though Aleksander Kaminski used to emphasise that what he wrote was a factual account of real people and events, yet he could construct the plot very well; he kept the reader in constant suspense, and his style is graphic and colourful. His fictional works, such as Narodziny dzielności (The Brith of Bravery), Antek Cwaniak (Tony, the Urchin), Andrzej Małkowski, Kamienie na szaniec (Stones Thrown on the Earth work), Zośka i Parasol (The "Sophia” and the “Umbrella") are so excellent that a professional writer would not be ashamed of them. All these books form a standard set in the Polish literature for the youth. Their attractiveness for the readers stems exactly from their being truthful accounts concerning real people. It is in this truthfulness — historical, psychological, and moral — that we find the essence of Aleksander Kammski’s writing. It is unique and cannot be compared with anything else, especially because of its myth-making power; therefore it constitutes an important object of research.