Word in Action. Democracy and Deliberation in Literary Practice in Polish Renaissance

This paper synthesizes relations between Polish democratic system and literary practice in the 16th century. The paper analyses phenomena that project social practice of deliberation on what is important to the community, including political community, and are rooted in the idea of noble democracy – idiosyncratic, mixed political system. The author focuses her interest on the idea of concordia. Consensualism was achieved through debates, political disputes or agons. Deliberative culture also encouraged other distinctive literary forms such as dialogs (political dialogs), polemical treatises, speeches or political satires.The paper underlines the significance of the Protestant Reformation to the Polish Renaissance culture, which introduced modernising tendencies and which expressed the ambitions of influence, participation, public activity, and co-deciding about the community. It stimulated modern way of thinking and shaped the model of discursive society and democratic Church.This paper synthesizes relations between Polish democratic system and literary practice in the 16th century. The paper analyses phenomena that project social practice of deliberation on what is important to the community, including political community, and are rooted in the idea of noble democracy – idiosyncratic, mixed political system. The author focuses her interest on the idea of concordia. Consensualism was achieved through debates, political disputes or agons. Deliberative culture also encouraged other distinctive literary forms such as dialogs (political dialogs), polemical treatises, speeches or political satires.The paper underlines the significance of the Protestant Reformation to the Polish Renaissance culture, which introduced modernising tendencies and which expressed the ambitions of influence, participation, public activity, and co-deciding about the community. It stimulated modern way of thinking and shaped the model of discursive society and democratic Church