The Barbarian's Garden: Zbigniew Herbert and the Folly of History
The Barbarian's Garden: Zbigniew Herbert and the Folly of History
Author(s): Bożena ShallcrossSubject(s): Cultural history, Social Philosophy, Polish Literature, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Sociology of Culture, 17th Century, Phenomenology
Published by: SAGE Publications Ltd
Keywords: Zbigniew Herbert; collection of essays; Polish literature; Dutch culture; cultural history; 17th century; phenomenon of tulipomania; tulips;
Summary/Abstract: In what proved to be his last collection of essays, Still Life with a Bridle, the renowned Polish poet and essayist Zbigniew Herbert explores Holland, a country he visited often and regarded as a positive "European phenomenon." "The Bitter Smell of Tulips" an essay included in Still Life-is, however, less an analysis of his impressions of contemporary reality than a mind's journey into a distant past, for the author takes the reader to a country that "in the Europe of the seventeenth century, torn by religious wars . . . was an unusual, universally admired asylum of freedom, tolerance, and prosperity. " [...]
Journal: East European Politics and Societies
- Issue Year: 14/2000
- Issue No: 01
- Page Range: 47-63
- Page Count: 17
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF