Waśnie martyrologiczne Wielkiej Emigracji. Demokraci wobec Mickiewicza

Abstract

Today, the martyrological discourse is one of the most conspicuous traditions of Polish Romanti-cism. When searching for the genesis of this discourse, one cannot overestimate the importance of the literary and political activities of Adam Mickiewicz from the autumn of 1832 to the middle of 1833. However, little is known about the problem of the resonance of Mickiewicz’s martyrological language and about how this discourse functioned in various texts of the Great Emigration. This paper attempts to answer those questions in reference to left-leaning texts of Komitet Narodowy Polski (KNP) and To-warzystwo Demokratyczne Polskie (TDP) from the 1830s. A study of the writings of KNP has led the author to the conclusion that they represent a common martyrological code of the emigration’s logo-sphere, while the TDP publications constitute an interesting variation of the martyrological collective imagination. The original character of the martyrological expression of the democrats stems from their views on the role of the people in regaining independence. On the other hand, certain common traits existed between TDP and Mickiewicz, which demonstrates that democrats modified the martyrological framework as a national narrative established by Mickiewicz.