Jakub Wędrowycz is the protagonist of a number of short stories by

Andrzej Pilipiuk Andrzej Pilipiuk (born 20 March 1974 in Warsaw), Polish humoristic science-fiction and fantasy author. He debuted in 1996 with short story "Hiena", which featured the first appearance of Jakub Wędrowycz, an alcoholic exorcist. Since that time, P ...

, a Polish science fiction and fantasy writer. Wędrowycz is an antihero, an elderly alcoholic,

moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

producer, poacher, amateur exorcist and fighter against all sorts of supernatural forces dwelling around his village, from

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to vampires, demons and devils, as well as more mundane threats such as

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, policemen and tax inspectors. Wędrowycz debuted in a short story published in 1996, and has been featured in dozens of short stories and several book anthologies. With time, Wędrowycz became the most easily recognizable characters of Pilipiuk's

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

and humorous prose, as well as one of the icons of modern Polish

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. Many official illustrations of Wędrowycz, particularly for the books, have been done by Polish illustrator .

Fictional character biography

Wędrowycz lives in

Stary Majdan, Gmina Wojsławice Stary Majdan () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Wojsławice, within Chełm County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Wojsławice, south of Chełm, and south-east of the regional ca ...

, in a rural part of Lublin Voivodeship. Born in the 1900s, he has Ukrainian (

Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

) roots. During his youth in the Russian Empire he finished only three classes of elementary school (which he later burned). He has paranormal, spiritual abilities, and is generally described as an exorcist. He is also a

producer and a poacher. The character has been described as

Character analysis

The name "Jakub Wędrowycz" is a wordplay based on a literal translation of Johnnie Walker into Polish. He is seen in Poland as a combination of popular negative stereotypes and vices of Poles, which nonetheless evokes sympathy. He is an anti-hero. He is also a rebel, mistrustful and often openly defying government and authority figures.

Reception and significance

Wędrowycz has been described as the most original and easily recognizable characters of Pilipiuk's

and humorous prose, as well as one of the icons of modern Polish

. Outside Poland, books featuring Wędrowycz have also been translated into Czech, and have been described as very popular in the Czech Republic. Some Wędrowycz books have also been translated into Russian. Polish writer Jacek Dukaj has written that Wędrowycz is "one of the most colorful, original and memorable characters in Polish science fiction and fantasy", comparable to Andrzej Sapkowski's Geralt of Rivia, the main character of '' The Witcher'' series. Wędrowycz has spawned a

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and a fandom convention, ''Dni Jakuba Wędrowycza'' (''Days of Jakub Wędrowycz''). The card game was released in 2011. The convention has been held in Wojsławice, a village featured in many stories related to Wędrowycz, since 2006. In 2013, during the eighth annual convention, a tall wooden monument of Jakub Wędrowycz was unveiled. In 2019, plans for raising a similar statue of another character from the series, Jakub's friend Semen Korczaszko, were announced. In 2016, a regional branch of PTTK, a Polish tourist organization, created a badge for those who visit local tourist attractions related to the Wędrowycz stories.

Appearances in media

Wędrowycz first appeared in Pilipiuk's debut work, a short story called ''Hiena'' (''Hyena'') in the February 1996 issue of ''

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'' magazine. His first book appearance was in the 2001 short story collection ' (''The Chronicles of Jakub Wędrowycz''), the first in a series of several short story collections on the character. As of 2020 there are nine collections of short stories on Wędrowycz published by Pilipiuk: * ''Kroniki Jakuba Wędrowycza'' (''The Chronicles of Jakub Wędrowycz'', 2001) * ''Czarownik Iwanow'' (''Ivanov the Wizard'', 2002) * ''Weźmisz Czarno kure'' (''Ye Shall Take a Black Hen'', 2002) * ''Zagadka Kuby Rozpruwacza'' (''Mystery of Jack the Ripper'', 2004) * ''Wieszać każdy może'' (''Anyone Can Be a Hangman'', 2006) * ''Homo bimbrownikus'' (''Homo moonshinicus'', 2009) * ''Trucizna'' (''Poison'', 2012) * ''Konan Destylator'' (''Conan The Distiller'', 2016) * ''Karpie Bijem'' (''Carps I Beat'', 2019) Wędrowycz also makes minor or cameo appearances in a few other stories and books by Pilipiuk. And he also appeared, with Pilipiuk's permission, in the book ''Czas Herkulesów'' (2017) by Polish writer . In 2011, the comic book ''Dobić dziada'' (''Finish Off the Geezer''), featuring Wędrowycz, was published. A sequel, ''Zabójca'' (''Killer''), was published in 2014.

References

External links

official page of Polish publisher of Wędrowycz book, the "Fabryka Słów" publishing house
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wedrowycz, Jakub Fictional alcohol abusers Fictional exorcists Fictional farmers Fictional monster hunters Fictional outlaws Fictional Polish people Fictional occult and psychic detectives Literary characters introduced in 1996 Speculative fiction characters Fictional people from the 20th-century