Published: 2020-02-071

Poland and Poles During the Great Twilight. The Problem of Patriotism in the Diary of Cezary Jellenta

Joanna Dobrowolska
Prace Literaturoznawcze
Section: Patriotism and literature
https://doi.org/10.31648/pl.4713

Abstract

In my article I describe how the concept of ‘patriotism’ functions in the literary works of Cezary
Jellenta. I believe that in the historical period following the recreation of the independent Polish
state many important problems and doubts arose. In this article the subject of my interpretation is
Jellenta’s diary Wielki zmierzch [The Great Twilight] (1925) about the times of the First World War.
I begin with an account of Jellenta’s revolutionary activity in 1905 (he was the editor-in-chief of
“Ateneum” at that time). In the main, analytical, part I present his critical view of Poland and Poles
on the eve of Independence Day. I distinguish three main groups of problems: the future Polish state
as an idea and a political conception, the Polish nation, and the concept of patriotism. I show how
Jellenta himself understood the notion of patriotism at that particular time. I refer to the19th-century
patriotic traditions and political myths as well as the concept of national character. In the last part of
my article I confront Jellenta’s diary Wielki zmierzch with his study about Josef Pilsudski.

Keywords:

Cezary Jellenta, the 1914–1918 World War, intelligentsia in the 19th century, patriotism, political myths

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Citation rules

Dobrowolska, J. (2020). Poland and Poles During the Great Twilight. The Problem of Patriotism in the Diary of Cezary Jellenta. Prace Literaturoznawcze, (7), 89–104. https://doi.org/10.31648/pl.4713

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