Stygmat nieśmiertelności

Abstract

The author discusses the vicissitudes o f Jonathan Swift’s eighteenth century novel. The last two expeditions of the doctor-explorer are definitely less popular. In the first novel, we encounter an alternative civilisation, based on the cult of mathematics, technology, economics and esotericism; the second presents an idyllic land, which is ruled wisely and justly by proud and intelligent animals. The author interprets these adventures through the prism o f various literary norms. She analyses selected behaviours and attitudes of the main character from the perspective o f their seemingly low attractiveness. She also reflects on the criteria employed by the authors of the Polish adaptation, who published it in 1961 as a novel for children. She juxtaposes the children’s understanding of Gulliver’s Travels with the perspective of a cultural anthropologist. This leads to the conclusions that Swift’s work is a durable element of the European cultural achievement because o f its universal message, the evocation of invariable attitudes and choices, as well as the formulation of astute projections of development of the civilization.