Epic poem in Polish literature of the enlightenment

The book presents ten pieces of varying length and different merit, which are attempts to use the rules of classical epic poem in the period of Polish Enlightenment. The introductory part of the study is devoted to the meaning, properties and history of the genre, its place in the literature of the Enlightenment (with special attention to Voltaire’s Henriade). The most important European works belonging to this genre have been mentioned in the article as is the history of epic poetry in the Old Polish period. The study also presents statements on aestheti cs and literature formulated during the Enlightenment by both foreign and Polish authors as regards understanding the nature and function of the epic and its main aspects, such as the unity of action, legitimacy and types of miraculousness, its characters, narrative and style. The main part of the book chronologically discusses subsequent pieces of Polish literature (each in a separate chapter) which clearly recall the Enlightenment tradition of epic poems. With one exception, that is, Ignacy Krasicki’s Wojna Chocimska (The War of Chocim) (1780), all other works belong to the Enlightenment of post-Stanislaus times. The study focuses primarily on the features which are characteristic for this genre, which are present in the researched works to a significant, although varying, degree. The role of rhetoric in the classical epic is emphasized, both at the level of expression of the narrator and the characters, but also non-rhetorical forms of expression, such as historical accounts and even lyrical confession, present in most of the works, have been analysed. Most of the works discussed in the book refer to the tradition of the Homeric and Virgilian version of the genre, but some - Molski’s Stanislaida and poems of Jędrzej Świderski, assuming the nature of poems on recent historical events (from the period of the Napoleonic Wars), are closer to Lucan’s version - they are basically devoid of fictitious elements. The subject matter by the poems is most often history of Poland (poems on Wanda, Jagiellonida of Dyzma Boncza Tomaszewski Zdobycie Kijowa [The Capture of Kiev] by Tymon Zaborowski, but also history of foreign countries [Kartago by Aleksander Chodkiewicz, Pułtawa by Nikodem Muśnicki]). In each case the relationship of a given work with its historical context and spiritual atmosphere in which it was created is perceptible. The analyses included in the book focus on analogous aspects of particular pieces, making it possible to present the changes that were taking place on the grounds of epic poetry - changes related to new philosophical and aesthetic concepts. It may be observed that the practice of epic poems during the Enlightenment is of - in its vast majority - a literary character, and the authors of the pieces clearly use well-known themes, threads and stylistic forms associated with the epic - invocation, the way battles are presented, the allegorical function of miraculousness, speeches of the protagonists, Homeric comparisons or complex epithets - largely drawing attention to the very process of writing an epic. A number of comments of autothematic nature (e.g. in Jagiellonida or The Capture of Kiev) or clear cases of styling or schematic repetitions of the same literary devices (e.g. in Muśnicki’s Pułtawa) clearly aid the above goal. Many devices of this type, like the use of miraculousness, are similar to the literary means used in contemporary heroicomical poems. The analyses carried out in the study lead to the conclusion that a line of evolution of the epic in this period cannot be clearly identified, and changes which the epic is subject to follow different paths. This involves, among other things, leveling of classic divisions between genres, and therefore in the works referring to the tradition of the epic one can observe qualities of other genres, such as elegy, dumka, descriptive poem or novel. It may be noticed that more and more frequently manifestations of aesthetic eclecticism in the analyzed works may be observed, as beside classical forms distinct features of sentimentality appear - mainly through the increasing role of the lyrical element - as one can even see elements of Rococo (e.g. in Jagiellonida). The role of the speaking voice as the host of the work also seems to increase gradually. This voice focuses either on their own creative activities (which sometimes has a comical effect) or on their own experiences and reflections. The study ends with general conclusions from previous studies; it confirms their importance and indicates directions of changes of the Enlightenment epic and other genres in the context of fundamental ideological and artistic changes