Cyganeria warszawska a proces kształtowania się nowoczesnego rynku czytelniczego
The Cyganeria warszawska and the process of the formation of the modern readership market

Author(s): Agnieszka Ścieszka-Bajura
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, Studies of Literature, Philology, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Summary/Abstract: The article engages the problems of the role of the Cyganeria warszawska in theprocess of the formation of the modern readership market. It presents the influence of the members of this group upon the mentality‑related changes and upon the developmentof literature toward democratisation and modernisation of the readership market.It proves that the activity of the group was not merely a gaudy spot on the map of the 19th‑century society but that it effectively challenged the existing relations. Forthe cyganie (Bohemians) managed to stir the ossified society not only with their way oflife but also with their literature. By deriding the lack of authenticity and the hypocrisy of inter‑human relations they contributed to the decline of the many‑year tradition of lordly patronage. This form of supporting poets never involved disinterested aid – the cyganie demonstrated that accepting such aid was tantamount to selling oneself and giving up oneself, and they could not bear such a thing.The article also engages the problems of the influence of the members of the Cyganeriawarszawska upon the change in the way the poet was perceived – they managed to combine courage in facing poverty with the solidification of the image of men of letters who rose above the multitude. The question of the way in which the audience – the pillar of the democratic marked – perceived them is also discussed.

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