"Zdania i uwagi" – dzieło nieoczywiste
"Zdania i uwagi" [Sentences and Comments] – an inconspicuous piece of literary work

Author(s): Ewa Hoffmann-Piotrowska
Subject(s): Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, Philology, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Zdania i uwagi; vision of a spiritual reality; orthodox western European tradition of mysticism; St. Augustin’s works
Summary/Abstract: So far Mickiewicz’s "Zdania i uwagi" [Sentences and Comments] has not been largely exploited in interpretative terms, yet in other respects it has been taken advantage of as a source of universal truths and principles. It has been considered extremely didactic and moralising, imposing an obvious vision of a spiritual reality. Therefore, the literary piece appears to be anti-lyrical, anti-poetic and in consequence anti-romantic, too. The author of this article makes an attempt to study the maxims from a completely different perspective. She tries to read them as meditative, open and prone to subjective interpretation and lastly, indefinite in their contents. It is worth mentioning that "Sentences and Comments" is significantly influenced by the orthodox, western European tradition of mysticism among others by St. Augustin’s works. And hence the author of this article aims to point out the philosophical and theological references of St. Augustin’s works with respect to Mickiewicz’s literary piece.

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