Het beeld van Polen en de Poolse maatschappij aan de vo- oravond van de Januariopstand (1863/64) in Albrecht Rodenbachs Studenten van Warschau. Poolsche Tafereelen (1879)
The Image of Poland and Polish Society on the Eve of the January Uprising (1863–1864) in Albrecht Rodenbach’s Drama Studenten van Warschau. Poolsche tafereelen (Students of Warsaw. Polish Scenes) (1879)

Summary/Abstract: This article researches the image of Poland and Polish society under Russian partition before the January Uprising (1863) in the Flemish poet Albrecht Rodenbach’s play Studenten van Warschau. Poolschetaferelen (Students of Warsaw. Polish scenes, 1879). A survey of Rodenbach’s interest in Poland and his contacts with Poles is followed by an analysis of the traditional paths followed by literary scholars interpreting this drama. Rodenbach’s literary image of Poland and Polish society on the eve of the insurrection is analysed from several angles (geography, topography, language, culture, society and its institutions, political and military aspects, etc.) using the methodological framework of literary and cultural imagology. The research reveals that a new, more Polish-oriented reading of Rodenbach’s play produces a wide range of insights on various hitherto unexplained aspects of the text. It confirms the view of Rodenbach’s nuanced understanding of mid-19th century Polish culture and society, augmenting it in several important respects.

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