O tym, jak Młoda Polska posiwiała : proza młodopolska wobec rewolucji 1905 roku

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to read once more the Young Poland prose, which had its genesis in the atrnosphere of and under the influence of the revolution of 1905—1907. The first chapter deals wiith the problem of corrections and transformations arising in the course of their professional writing and the later reception given to their works. The next matter which is essential for the understanding of the specific features of this prose, are the rules of persuasion. In thesecond chapter is given a description of the attrtude of the „spokesman”, present in the works of G. Glass and J. Weyssenhoff. The third chapter presents an atiempt to order the considerable number (about 60) short prose pieces. A feature that is symptomatic for the prose works reactdng to the revolutionary events is the attempt to seize the ąiuickly passing „scenes”, „capturing” reality as it were, as it is happening. An episode, fragments, single events — it is necessary for the revolution to have such a chronicler, modest in his ambitions but reliabde in his observations — this strategy seem/s to inform the stories of Niemojewsfci in the cycle People of the Revolution, Revolutionary pictures by Marion, The little Jewish girl by M. Konopnicka or again the stories of A. Strug. The fourih chapter aims to show the thoughts which in the works of Kasprowicz and Liciński broke away from the straigbtforward retelling of reality and went beyond to the realms of metaphysics. The revolution showed up with fuli initensity the necessity of reformulating the fundamental questions of existential and historiophilosophical naturę, questions as to the sense and purpose of social and political structures. In the finał chapter a metaphysdcal presentation is given of the dichotomy that organised the semantics of many prose works dealing with the topie of the revolution. Here the author has made use of the category of ethos and also the ideogenetic type. The finał conclusion is that the most outstanding characteristic of the literary works discussed here is the breakdown of faith in the rights, purpose and methods of revolution.