The Romantic Myth about the Antiquity of Folk Botanical Knowledge and Its Fall: Józef Rostafiński’s Case
The Romantic Myth about the Antiquity of Folk Botanical Knowledge and Its Fall: Józef Rostafiński’s Case

Summary/Abstract: Biologists may have a set of opinions prevalent in their lifetime. But as a result of their own research, they can demonstrate that some of those opinions are fallacious. This brings about a change in their approach to such views. If researchers do not provide detailed description (e.g., in letters or memoirs) of the shifts in their views, it is difficult to reconstruct the causes and the course of such changes. Some ideas outlive the epoch in which they are widely advocated. They are attractive enough to be shared by at least some scientists also in the generation that follows. One of such ideas was the Romantic view that on the basis of nineteenth-century folk superstitions (beliefs) it is possible to reconstruct ancient pre-Christian knowledge about plants. Among the few Polish botanists active during that epoch it is hard to find those making direct references to the idea of Romanticism in their works. One of the botanists who looked for traces of ancient pre-Christian knowledge in contemporary folk beliefs and customs was Józef Rostafiński.

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