„Wiadomości Brukowe” (1816–1822) – From Satire to Absurdity. Some Comments

Abstract

At the beginning of the 19th century, the absurd as a term functioned primarily in the Latin version,and in the colloquial meaning it was understood as ‘nonsense’. The article discusses itsuses in „Wiadomości Brukowe”, one of the most important and most representative periodicalsof the early 19th century for the intellectual climate of Vilnius. Its authors, embracing the traditionsof Enlightenment satire and early Romantic irony, linked absurdity with the observation of reality,as exemplifi ed by three texts analyzed in the article: an advertisement of the sale of Honestyand Conscience, a criticism of the Pacanowska Academy, and an advertisement of a subscriptionto the project of developing a machine for beating peasants. The absurd becomes here a significant element of journalistic description. The use of the absurd was not a staple in „WiadomościBrukowe”, but it was visible enough to help establish a tradition of the magazine and to allow itsauthors to gain important social and aesthetic experience.