Obraz dzieciątka w staropolskich kolendach i pastorałkach (na materiale tzw. {Kantyczek karmelitańskich} z XVII i XVIII wieku)
The Image of Baby Jesus in Old Polish Carols and Christmas Hymns (on the Basis of {Kantyczki karmelitańskie} from the 17th and 18th Century)

Summary/Abstract: The author analyses the literary and linguistic image of the Baby Jesus created by Old Polish authors on the basis of 18th Century manuscripts collected by Carmelite nuns in Cracow. The manuscript, published by Barbara Krzyżaniak in 1980 as {Kantyczki karmelitańskie Rękopis z XVIII wieku} (Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne) contains 358 formally and genologically diverse Christmas songs. In the carols Jesus is presented in a new and surprisingly realistic way. The Baby Jesus appears both to the singers and the audience as a typical baby, with all features corresponding to His age and social status. The authors departed from medieval and renaissance literary conventions, and following Jakob Pontanus created in Polish religious poetry a new picture of Bethlehem reality, based on their experience and detailed observation of 17th and 18th Century reality. The emergent picture focuses on two elements of the Birth: 1) the utmost penury and hardships that the Holy Family had to cope with; 2) The joy of the shepherds at the Birth of the Savior and circumstances related to the Birth. Given the double perspective adopted by the Old Polish authors the preserved texts present a two-fold image of Jesus: 1) as a defenseless, crying Baby, suffering from cold and being cuddled by the young, helpless mother; and 2) as a happy, healthy Child, playing with the Shepherds who had come to Bethlehem. The first picture appears in serious songs, probably used during Christmas liturgy, while the other is present in pastoral songs that are more free in their form and contents. In the Church practice only the first picture has been preserved.

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