Instytut Badań Literackich Polskiej Akademii Nauk

(Jan Kochanowski as a role model to follow – selected examples of the reception of Kochanowskian tradition at the turn of the Enlightenment and Romanticism)

Year of publication: 2016
Page range: 14 (53-66)
Keywords: Jan Kochanowski, model, formations, Classicism, Sentimentalism, Romanticism
Author: Jakub Zbądzki (University of Wrocław)

Abstract

The paper aims at identifying the reasons for which Jan Kochanowski is considered a role model to follow to the writers at the turn of the Enlightenment and Romanticism eras. It includes the analysis of selected works by four representative poets: Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Kazimierz Brodziński, Adam Mickiewicz, and Teofil Lenartowicz, with the last two serving as reference figures. The paper shows a clear dependency between the presentation of Kochanowski’s poetry and his persona and the literary tendencies of the given time: Classicism, Sentimentalism, and Romanticism. The author emphasis the fact that the poets not only refer to the Renaissance predecessor, but also take on the roles of his descendants. This phenomenon may be interpreted as a symptom of rivalry between the poets and, more broadly, as an attempt to take over the bases of the Classicist formation by the Romantic formation.

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