La «sociologie» balzacienne peut-elle être utile à l’analyse de la Pologne postcommuniste? L’exemple de Balzakiana de Jacek Dehnel
Can Balzacian “Sociology” Be Useful for the Analysis of the Post-communist Poland? The Example of Balzakiana by Jacek Dehnel

Author(s): Kamil Popowicz
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, French Literature, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Balzac; Jacek Dehnel; Balzakiana; French Restoration; Poland; post-communism
Summary/Abstract: This paper presents a collection of short stories by Jacek Dehnel published under a title "Balzakiana", where the author attempted to depict modern Poland in the same way that Balzac depicted France of the Restoration period in "The Human Comedy". The paper raises questions if the Polish author succeeded in his task and more importantly whether such an endeavor was legitimate i.e. are there sufficient parallels between the two countries in these two very different periods of time? The answers is affirmative since striking similarities are noted between French transition from the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period to the restoration of monarchy and Polish transition from communism to democracy. The paper also cites articles from Polish press showing that this parallel has been used by other authors, notably Adam Michnik who reached similar conclusions on his own.

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