Bogusław Dopart

The article takes up the issue of presence of J. W. Goethe and Lord Byron in the literary and cultural reflection of A. Mickiewicz, with a special emphasis on his Paris lectures on the Slavic Literature (1840-1844). Two diametrically different individualities, the classic from Weimar and the rebellious romanticist, are equally respected by Mickiewicz. He confronts their writings and author attitude in his most important programme statements at various stages of his work. Also in his creative practice, this artistically versatile poet leads a dialogue with Goethe and Byron (e.g. Crimean Sonnets, Konrad Wallenrod, Part III of The Forefathers’ Eve, a translation of The Giaour). In the Paris lectures, Goethe and Byron are still regarded by Mickiewicz as the most important authors of modern literature. They represent important fields of the Slavic culture’s dialogue with the West. Here, the author of Faust becomes strictly a literary authority, ceasing to play an equal role with the English romanticist, the Napoleon of poetry, who fits in the political history of Slavic nations and reveals the secrets of the “literature of the future” to them.

The article concerns the formation of different concepts of “Ukraine’s bard” in the works of recognizable representatives of Polish Romantic Ukrainianism and in music of Ukraine’s national poet. Considerations include the period from J. B. Zaleski’s debut (1822) to the death of T. Shevchenko (1861). Moreover, they take into account issues of selected works of J. Słowacki for the period of 1832–1843 (beginning with Duma o Wacławie Rzewuskim and ending with Sen Srebrny Salomei). Zaleski, interested in the history of Cossacks and their relations with The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, refers to tradition of “teorban players” or “bandura players” accompanying the army or to wandering performers of epic “dumas”. It also refers to the topic of Bojan, a legendary Slavic bard, famous for the Old Russian poem – Słowo o Połku Igoriewie. Słowacki’s Ukrainianism is moving towards archaism of folk culture. Furthermore, it takes on syncretic character (due to an oriental component), and in one of its aspects constitutes self-creation of the Romantic poet. At the heart of this Ukrainianism we can find Wernyhora, inscribed among other things in issues of complicated Polish-Ukrainian relations. T. Shevchenko creates an original ideological and aesthetic concept around the piper who is the exponent of folk philosophy of life. In later works of Ukrainian Romantics there are two important media of national poetry: a bard-historian and a prophet – a moral awakener, a spokesman of the idea of screening politics by means of evangelical truth.

In the year 2010, Professor Julian Maślanka celebrated his eightieth birthday and the fifty fifth anniversary of his academic debut. His creative achievement, which is constantly being augmented, constitutes in many ways than one a bridge between the illustrious traditions and the present day of Polish humanities. He acquired knowledge and academic competence in the sphere of Polish studies, folklore, history, archeology and Slavic studies. In his chief publications, he presented his research on the links between folklore and literature as well as studies on the literary interpretations of Slavic historical myths. As an extremely versatile philologist, he made his mark in the sphere of textology and editorship (among others, editions of Mickiewicz and Norwid), resource and source studies, erudite history of literarture and interpretation of literary works of the Enlightenment and Romanticism (among others, Krasicki, Malczewski, Norwid).