The Literary Union (1891-1899)

The author of the article has undertaken an attempt to present the history of one of the cultural associations which existed in Krakow at the turn of the 19th century. The Literary Union was founded by a group of writers and literary critics who were dissatisfied with the activity of the Artistic-Literary Circle which had operated in Krakow since 1881. The Union which had been formally registered in the Regional Lieutenancy towards the end of 1891, began its activity in February 1892. Among its ranks it grouped between 50 and 90 writers, literary and theatre critics, including professors of the Jagiellonian University. The successive presidents of the Union included: Józef Tretiak, Marian Zdziechowski and Kazimierz Bartoszewicz. The Union had its own premises in which weekly lectures devoted above all to important literary phenomena were held. The members appreciated partucularly the possibility of taking advantage of the well-stocked Union reading-room, which had subscribed to a few dozen Polish and foreign literary magazines. In the years 1896-1898, the Union published a biweekly entitled “Przegląd Literacki” /Literary Review/ (edited by Kazimierz Bartoszewicz), which however did not publish any program manifestos, nor literary polemics;  the biweekly published exclusively the reviews of books which appeared on the Polish book market. The Union had lost its entire raison d’etre the moment Stanisław Przybyszewski arrived in Krakow and became the editor of the “Życie” /Life/ magazine. It was precisely this magazine that became the main platform for the writers and poets realizing their modernist artistic program.

The author of the article has undertaken an attempt to present the history of one of the cultural associations which existed in Krakow at the turn of the 19th century. The Literary Union was founded by a group of writers and literary critics who were dissatisfied with the activity of the Artistic-Literary Circle which had operated in Krakow since 1881. The Union which had been formally registered in the Regional Lieutenancy towards the end of 1891, began its activity in February 1892. Among its ranks it grouped between 50 and 90 writers, literary and theatre critics, including professors of the Jagiellonian University. The successive presidents of the Union included: Józef Tretiak, Marian Zdziechowski and Kazimierz Bartoszewicz. The Union had its own premises in which weekly lectures devoted above all to important literary phenomena were held. The members appreciated partucularly the possibility of taking advantage of the well-stocked Union reading-room, which had subscribed to a few dozen Polish and foreign literary magazines. In the years 1896-1898, the Union published a biweekly entitled “Przegląd Literacki” /Literary Review/ (edited by Kazimierz Bartoszewicz), which however did not publish any program manifestos, nor literary polemics;  the biweekly published exclusively the reviews of books which appeared on the Polish book market. The Union had lost its entire raison d’etre the moment Stanisław Przybyszewski arrived in Krakow and became the editor of the “Życie” /Life/ magazine. It was precisely this magazine that became the main platform for the writers and poets realizing their modernist artistic program.