However, unlike some
Positivist idealists, he did not have a tendency to idealise the
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741
people. His writing was not in accordance with the Positivist
standards of being biased. In his trilogy of short stories the theme
of the genre dominates, and in such American stories as Latarnik
(1881), Wspomnienie z Maripozy (1882) or Sachem (1883), the
theme of patriotism, neglected by the Positivists at the time of
the defeat of the January Uprising, can be easily seen. Ogniem i
mieczem ("With Fire and Sword"), published in episodes from 2
May 1883 to 1 February 1884 and accepted by the audience with
growing enthusiasm, proved that Sienkiewicz changed his views.
Here, he turned away from contemporary subjects towards
history. It is the history of the Polish-Ukrainian conflict in the
first half of the seventeenth century. With this novel he renews a
lesson of military patriotism criticised by the Positivists and
refers to those traditions which said that the nobility was the
power of the country. The sequels of this multi-volume series
about the seventeenth century (about the war with Sweden and
the battles on the Polish-Turkish border), which was published
simultaneously in all three annexed areas, Potop ("The Deluge")
and Pan Wołodyjowski ("Colonel Wołodyjowski") (1884-1888),
ensured Sienkiewicz’s fame as a favourite of the audience, and his
later historical novels; Quo vadis (1895-96), about the beginnings
of Christianity in Ancient Rome and Krzyżacy ("The Teutonic
Knights") (1897-1900), about the times of Queen Jadwiga and
Jagiełło and the origin of the Polish-Lithuanian victory over the
Teutonic Knights at Grunwald, only strengthened that fame. Even
the less successful contemporary novels Bez dogmatu ("Without
Dogma") (1889-90), and Rodzina Połanieckich ("The Polaniecki
Family") (1893-94), or the not quite as successful historical
novels, such as Na polu chwały ("On the Field of Glory") (1903-
5), about King Jan III Sobieski’s battle near Vienna, or Legiony
("Legions") (1914), about the first post-partition attempts to
organise the struggle to regain independence, were unable to
weaken his popularity.
Henryk Sienkiewicz
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742
In his historical novels Sienkiewicz followed and colourfully and
impressively used various traditions. He overtook Walter Scott’s
idea of putting the characters and fictional plots (love, adventure)
in the foreground of the story, and real historic events (real wars,
real characters; rulers, warriors, officials) in the background. He
owed his colourful characters, pathos and optimistic overtones of
the events to the tradition of the epic poem from Homer to Pan
Tadeusz. From the messianic beliefs of Old Poland and
Romanticism, he took the idea of Providence watching over the
course of history. He often borrowed from Romantic stories,
especially as far as the style was concerned, the style which up to
this day is praised as one of the outstanding features of
Sienkiewicz’s artistry. The older Dumas taught him how to
present the speed of the action and create the tensions of the
adventures. In such ways the historical works of Sienkiewicz
superbly refreshed the repertoire of such motifs as rivalries,
duels, ambushes, kidnappings, partings, tricks, unexpected
rescues, escapes, pursuits, disguises, fortune telling, etc. At the
end of the Trilogy, Sienkiewicz stressed that it was written to
raise the spirit of the nation. This was, however, expressed
through putting the importance of heroic deeds above work or
education as well as the subjectivity of opinion about "us" and
"them". "Us", i.e. Polish and Catholic knights, although not
without sin and sometimes weak, definitely outdo other nations
and religions. Facing the Muslim (Turkish, Tartar) East, they act
as a bastion of Christianity. Sienkiewicz put Polish Catholic
religiousness and military tradition in the foreground of raising
the spirits and hopes for the future.
The unusual popularity of the author of the Trilogy and Quo
vadis had from the very beginning been accompanied by a duality
of opinion within the environment of the critics, writers and
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Quo vadis
743
researchers into literature. His supporters, from Stanisław
Tarnowski in the nineteenth century to Julian Krzyżanowski in
the second half of the twentieth century, cite the popularity
opinion polls, patriotic arguments and artistry. His opponents,
however, question the ideological and intellectual value of his
works, talk about the "whitewashing" of the nobility and other
false pictures of society, the one-sidedness of educational issues,
the lack of psychological depth and helplessness towards
philosophical themes, so important for a modern man. They also
point to an extensive use of literary stereotypes. They are willing
to call Sienkiewicz "the first-class writer of the second class".
These critics include Bolesław Prus, Aleksander Świętochowski,
Stanisław Brzozowski, Witold Gombrowicz and Czesław Miłosz.
Transtaled into English Tadeusz Z. Wolański
BIBLIOGRAFIA - BIBLIOGRAPHY
J. Krzyżanowski, Henryk Sienkiewicz. Kalendarz życia i
twórczości, Warszawa 1956.
A. Nofer-Ładyka, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Warszawa 1959 (wyd. 5 - 1971).
A. Stawar, Pisarstwo Henryka Sienkiewicza, Warszawa 1960.
J. Krzyżanowski, Henryka Sienkiewicza żywot i sprawy,
Warszawa 1966 (wyd. 4 - 1976).
T. Bujnicki, Pierwszy okres twórczości Henryka Sienkiewicza,
Wrocław 1968.
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Henryk Sienkiewicz. Twórczość i recepcja światowa. Materiały
konferencji naukowej, listopad 1966. Pod red. A. Piorunowej i
K. Wyki, Kraków 1968.
J. Krzyżanowski, Twórczość Henryka Sienkiewicza, Warszawa
1970 (wyd. 3 - 1976).
L. Ludorowski, O postawie epickiej w "Trylogii" Henryka
Sienkiewicza, Warszawa 1970.
T. Bujnicki, "Trylogia" Sienkiewicza na tle tradycji polskiej
powieści historycznej, Wrocław 1973.