From Taboo and Prevention to Romanticism and Permissiveness – Suicide in the History of the Polish Language and Historical Novels by Henryk Sienkiewicz

Abstract

The text presents the history of lexis related to suicide in the history of the Polish language, as well as the image of suicide in the historical novels of Henryk Sienkiewicz. The focus is on suicide prevention issues. One of the essential claims is that the word “suicide” in everyday language appears relatively late (most likely after the 17th century). Earlier, the (general) concept of suicide was only present in philosophical texts. Another analysis result is that the prevention of suicides related to religious restriction was strongly emphasized in the past. The change took place in the period of romanticism.