Cień Mickiewicza?
Mickiewicz’s shadow?

Andrzej Towiański in the dark imaginary of the 21st century

Author(s): Jarosław Mariusz Ławski
Subject(s): Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, 19th Century, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Andrzej Towiański; Adam Mickiewicz; stereotype; sect; theosophy; irrationality
Summary/Abstract: The author analyses journalistic portraits of Andrzej Towiański (1799–1878), a religious thinker and theosophist who in the years 1841–1855 greatly impacted the life and work of Poland’s greatest poet, Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855). In texts penned by Ewa Polak-Pałkiewicz ("Długi cień „Mistrza”") and Piotr Wierzbicki (chapter titled “Obłęd” in the book "Powrót do Mickiewicza") in 2020–2021, Towiański is depicted as a sectarian, manipulator, a symbolical figure of a “demonic abettor” wielding destructive power over the poet. The author of the present article discusses the potential reasons for the longevity of this stereotype among both right-wing (the two mentioned above) and left-wing (Cezary Michalski, Max Cegielski, Polityka weekly) columnists. As he points out, the texts penned by left- and right-wing journalists condemn irrationality but themselves constitute an expression of irrational behaviour.

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