Fotografie i „efekt swojskości” (miejsca). O jednym szkicu krajoznawczym Elizy Orzeszkowej

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to determine the influence of photographic practice on the construction of space that occurs in Eliza Orzeszkowa’s sketch entitled Niemen. Zdjęcia migawkowe. The main methodological premise is to apply to the analysis and interpretation of the literary text the findings that the history of 19th-century photography has made. It distinguished the basic functions of this medium, which, in a suitably modified version, are also present in Orzeszkowa’s text. The article thus analyzes what consists in: (1) archiving, (2) organizing, (3) modernizing knowledge and informing, and (4) illustrating. These functions actively shape the meanings of Orzeszkowa’s work, and when summed up, lead to the so-called homely effect. It consists in a three-level harmony between the subject and the place, which creates resonance in the area of cultural, intellectual and biographical experience.