The Bragman Episode in the History of the Life and Eminent Affairs of Alexander the Great (Historia o żywocie i znamienitych sprawach Aleksandra Wielkiego) as a Clash of Different World Views

The article presents an interpretation of a literary vision of utopia. It is focused on the cultural aspect Bragmanes utopia created using artistic means – representations, values and beliefs specific for the author of the text as well as his cultural milieu. The deliberations featured in the article are based on the analysis of the “Bragman episode,” a fragment of an Old-Polish translation of Historia o żywocie i znamienitych sprawach Aleksandra Wielkiego dating back to 1550. The story of Alexander’s encounter with Bragmanes determines the beginnings of the utopian tendency in Polish literature. The episode mentioned was described by Julian Krzyżanowski in his monograph Romans polski wieku XVI in 1934 and extensively analysed by Anna Krzewińska in her treatise Początki utopii w literaturze staropolskiej.
One of the interpretative proposals presented in this article is an assumption that the Bragman utopia is unreal and poses as a curiosity. Moreover, the exoticism and isolation of Bragmanes’ land indicates connections between its description and the myth of the Golden Age or paradise lost. The key role of nature, which is identified with the primeval and – at the same time – the best state of human existence, is also emphasized. One of the means of depicting nature appears to be worth considering especially: the description of nature referring to the concept of locus amoenus, also proper for the descriptions of an earthly paradise, indicates an archetypical character of this kind of representations. The next part of the article is devoted to an analysis of the axiological level of the Bragman utopia. Implying that strict ethical principles based on a strong distinction between right and wrong result from perceiving man as a spiritual creature, the author aims to discuss the spirituality of the Indian nation with reference to Christian religion and beliefs, and ways of representation characteristic for the religious mentality of the Middle Ages. The conducted analysis of paraphrases from the Holy Bible found in the letters of the leader of the Bragman community indicates that their philosophy and religion are deeply ingrained in the culture of Logos. As a result, it is logos, not nature (physis) or law (nomos), that can be considered the basis of the Bragman order. Furthermore, Bragmanes’ retreat from the sphere of culture as well as European civilisation and their conscious choice of living close to nature do not prove their barbarity. Instead, they question the validity of the opposition between culture and nature (however the distinction between nature and civilisation is sustained).
The reading of the Bragman episode proposed in the article, oriented towards the disclosure of a vision of the world depicted in the romance, shows that the Christian significance and parenetic character of the Bragman utopia (clear for the medieval reader) could not influence the protagonist. In the author’s opinion, they determine a significant stage of Alexander’s pilgrimage around the world, the moment of confronting and rejecting a strange world-view.
 

The article presents an interpretation of a literary vision of utopia. It is focused on the cultural aspect Bragmanes utopia created using artistic means – representations, values and beliefs specific for the author of the text as well as his cultural milieu. The deliberations featured in the article are based on the analysis of the “Bragman episode,” a fragment of an Old-Polish translation of Historia o żywocie i znamienitych sprawach Aleksandra Wielkiego dating back to 1550. The story of Alexander’s encounter with Bragmanes determines the beginnings of the utopian tendency in Polish literature. The episode mentioned was described by Julian Krzyżanowski in his monograph Romans polski wieku XVI in 1934 and extensively analysed by Anna Krzewińska in her treatise Początki utopii w literaturze staropolskiej.

One of the interpretative proposals presented in this article is an assumption that the Bragman utopia is unreal and poses as a curiosity. Moreover, the exoticism and isolation of Bragmanes’ land indicates connections between its description and the myth of the Golden Age or paradise lost. The key role of nature, which is identified with the primeval and – at the same time – the best state of human existence, is also emphasized. One of the means of depicting nature appears to be worth considering especially: the description of nature referring to the concept of locus amoenus, also proper for the descriptions of an earthly paradise, indicates an archetypical character of this kind of representations. The next part of the article is devoted to an analysis of the axiological level of the Bragman utopia. Implying that strict ethical principles based on a strong distinction between right and wrong result from perceiving man as a spiritual creature, the author aims to discuss the spirituality of the Indian nation with reference to Christian religion and beliefs, and ways of representation characteristic for the religious mentality of the Middle Ages. The conducted analysis of paraphrases from the Holy Bible found in the letters of the leader of the Bragman community indicates that their philosophy and religion are deeply ingrained in the culture of Logos. As a result, it is logos, not nature (physis) or law (nomos), that can be considered the basis of the Bragman order. Furthermore, Bragmanes’ retreat from the sphere of culture as well as European civilisation and their conscious choice of living close to nature do not prove their barbarity. Instead, they question the validity of the opposition between culture and nature (however the distinction between nature and civilisation is sustained).
The reading of the Bragman episode proposed in the article, oriented towards the disclosure of a vision of the world depicted in the romance, shows that the Christian significance and parenetic character of the Bragman utopia (clear for the medieval reader) could not influence the protagonist. In the author’s opinion, they determine a significant stage of Alexander’s pilgrimage around the world, the moment of confronting and rejecting a strange world-view.