"Na Litwie much dostatek". Idee ochrony przyrody wobec zgrzebnej codzienności

Abstract

The article centers on the Romantic cult of familiarity as an essential premise for the idea of nature conservation. The reading of Adam Mickiewicz’s Pan Tadeusz shows that economic or aesthetic motives for acting for the benefit of the natural environment are ultimately less important than an intimate, ‘homely’ relationship with nature: love of native fauna and flora — in all their manifestations. The ‘hunts’ for flies, which keep Wojski Hreczecha’s attention, demonstrate, however, that the relationship between man and nonhuman nature is in some respects far from the desired mythical harmony. The “abundance” of flies in Lithuania, which is enclosed in quotation marks of a discreet joke, also prompts us to a critical rethinking of ideas about the inexhaustible richness of nature.