19th Century Polish Literature and Nature, Cities, and Ecology

Abstract

This paper examines the Polish view of nature through 19th century Polish literature and its film adaptations.

Romantic literature, which sustained national identity during the period of Polish partition, is also the basis for the modern Polish view of nature. In particular, the countryside depicted in “Pan Tadeusz” is often identified with the nature of his native Poland, rather than with the limited location of Lithuania, and Wajda has cleverly used this in his film direction.

In “Lalka,” Paris and Warsaw are depicted as urban ideals and their opposites. Paris appears to be a utopia that embodies the positivist slogan “organic labor.” However, a comparison with another important topos, “Zasławek,” shows that Paris is also not considered perfect by the author.

The image of Warsaw, torn between the two poles of “European ideals” and “nostalgia for the motherland,” raises questions about urban civilization. On the other hand, reservations seem to be made about the attitude that should be shown to “nature” in the realization of the ideal city.

At the end of the 19th century, the novel “Ziemia obiecana” depicted the various processes characteristic of capitalism, such as population growth, the expansion of productive forces, the industrialization of the country and the capitalization of agriculture, and the accompanying development of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. This novel can be considered the first book of Polish “environmental literature.” The film adaptation by Wajda exaggerates the negative aspects of the city in a more grotesque way.