HOW TO STUDY THE ENLIGHTENMENT: A CULTURAL AND LITERARY PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Polish research on the Enlightenment developed in the first half of the 20th century but gained new momentum in the period after the Second World War. At that time, efforts were made to outline a picture of the phenomenon with a strong ideological character, but also a program of recognising important and hitherto not widely studied areas, above all of the literary cultures, was developed. A systematic exploration of sources was also started, and preparations for scientific editions of literary works were undertaken. These activities meet two permanently up-to-date requirements: an interdisciplinary, comparative, historical and ideological approach, as well as the necessary and constant contact with the source material. The research examined the source, sociological-cultural, structuralist and historical-ideological perspectives but focused on the Enlightenment itself. In this situation, the works should be primarily contextual. Based on the previous and new critical studies, it is necessary to undertake systematic research on the position and role of the Enlightenment in the development of Polish culture – in the context of old Polish culture and Romanticism and the phenomenon of modernity. A good reference to this issue is the already introduced concept of change, which allows to dynamise the image and situate the phenomenon of the Enlightenment in the broader time perspective. The second – related to the previous – problem that requires theoretical reflection and reflection on the source material is the anthropological perspective of viewing literature and culture. Such issues as ways of constructing the speaking “I” in different literary genres, ways of expressing the identity of the “I” and shaping the collective identity may shed new light on the epoch, require research consideration and reference to the main tendencies of the so-called new humanities. Such approaches will make it possible to introduce research on the Enlightenment into the dialogue with the latest tendencies of this humanities, test the usefulness of its proposals for historical works, and check the usefulness of new approaches.