Sienkiewicz’s awkward inspirations

The subject of the research are literary convergences that link the prose of the forgotten writer of the Positivist period, Stanisław Grudziński, with the works of Henryk Sienkiewicz, especially with his Trilogy. The comparative analysis includes Grudziński’s novels (Powieści ukraińskie, 1879–1880; Zuch dziewczyna. Powieść obyczajowa, Warszawa 1879). The confluences concern characteristic linguistic devices that render the Ukrainian flavour, fictional entanglements and literary portraits of the main and the secondary protagonists, the identical names of Zagłoba and Horpyna appearing in the texts of both writers. However, the above may be considered as manifestations of dissimilarities within the similar. Sienkiewicz may have been using the same cultural inspirations as Grudziński for the purpose of conjuring up the Ukrainian reality. It is also possible that Sienkiewicz remembered some elements of Grudziński’s prose, using those motifs and ideas which he considered worth developing. In relation to his hypothetical literary predecessor, Sienkiewicz appeared incomparably superior in terms of his artistic imagination, patterns of storytelling, creative development of his characters, as well as his mastery of language. In effect, Sienkiewicz obliterated the memory of Grudziński, who could have served as a model for his own literary works.