„Unity of maternal vanity and maternal love”. Linguistic representation of family relationships in Matka [Mother] by Ignacy Maciejowski (Sewer)

In his novel Matka [Mother], Ignacy Maciejowski creates an image of a traditional Polish family – Magda and Szymon Porębski and their three children: a daughter, Marysia, and two sons, Władek and Antek. The children have a healthy relationship with each other, which is reflected, above all, by mutual caring, support, and compassion. The family relation-ships depicted by the author are not only positive, traditional, appropriate and correct, but also stereotypical. The family ties are nurtured and strengthened at home, which brings together all generations, promotes tradition, soothes a savage breast, and is the centre of a small 19th-century peasant community like the Porębskis. The image of family relationships depicted in the novel Matka [Mother] by Ignacy Maciejowski represents one Polish proverb: Bez rodziny, ni domu niepotrzebnyś nikomu [Without your family or home, you are nobody]