Karolina Starnawska

In this article, I attempt a necro-humanistic reading of specific passages from Nad Niemnem by Eliza Orzeszkowa. These passages describe two burial sites: the tomb of Jan and Cecylia, the founders of the Bohatyrowicz family, and the grave of forty January Uprising insurgents. Numerous scholars of Nad Niemnem have attributed symbolic and formative significance to both the tomb of Jan and Cecylia and the grave of the insurgents for the novel’s characters and its readers. Some of these interpretations will be referenced in this article. I do not intend to challenge tchem but rather to complement them with a necro-humanistic perspective on the sections dedicated to the graves, drawing upon Ewa Domańska’s insights from her book Nekros. Wprowadzenie do ontologii martwego ciała. I begin by examining the importance of land as a resource for cultivation or animal husbandry for the inhabitants of Bohatyrowicze and Korczyn. This approach will highlight how Orzeszkowa differentiates between the narrative of the land that serves the living and the narrative of the land that houses the remains of the dead.

The modern student sits too much, spends too much time in buildings and in front of computer, television, or smartphone screens. School and the duties associated with it consume ever more time, even in case of the youngest students. Students do not have the opportunity to play outside. Meanwhile, as numerous studies show, people require contact with nature for proper development. This paper argues for the need to leave the school premises with students and conduct lessons of the Polish language (or counselling lessons) outside, where students could freely play and explore the nature closest to them. The possibility of conducting such classes was presented on the example of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, which is on the supplementary reading list for the fourth through six grades. The author of the article postulates a change in the way we think about children’s learning.