A ''gawęda'' () is a
story
Story or stories may refer to:
Common uses
* Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events)
** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting
* Story (American English), or storey (British ...
; especially, one that belongs to a kind of
Polish epic literary genre.
History
''Gawęda'' is a genre of Polish folk literature.
The term also describes a literary work, stylized as an oral
tale, characterized by freedom of composition, rich in
digressions, and written in language close to
colloquial language, that presented a picture of
Sarmatian
The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th cen ...
''
szlachta'' (nobility, or gentry) manners and morals.
During the
Romantic period, in the first half of the 19th century, the genre developed as the "''
szlachta'' ''gawęda''" ('). It told of the lives and manners of the nobility, affirming the Sarmatian world of values. The leading author in this genre was
Henryk Rzewuski (''Pamiątki Soplicy''—Memoirs of Soplica, 1839–41). Other authors in this line included K. Gaszyński (''Kontuszowe pogadanki''—''
Kontusz'' Chats),
Władysław Syrokomla (''Urodzony Jan Dęboróg''—Jan Dęboróg),
Wincenty Pol
Wincenty Pol (20 April 1807 – 2 December 1872) was a Polish poet and geographer.
Life
Pol was born in Lublin (then in Galicia), to Franz Pohl (or Poll), a German in the Austrian service, and his wife Eleonora Longchamps de Berier, from a Fre ...
(''Wieczór przy kominku''—An Evening by the Fire), A. Gorczyński, K.W. Wójcicki, and
Ignacy Chodźko (''Pamiętniki kwestarza''—Memoirs of a Collector for Charity).
''Gawęda'' elements may be found in works by
Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...
(''
Pan Tadeusz''),
Juliusz Słowacki (''Preliminaria peregrynacji do Ziemi Świętej JO. księcia Radziwiłła Sierotki''—Preliminaries to the Peregrination to the Holy Land of Prince Radziwiłł the Orphan), and in
Henryk Sienkiewicz's ''Trilogy''. The ''
szlachta gawęda'' played a great role in the development of the Polish
historical novel.
A twentieth-century practitioner of ''gawęda'' was
Melchior Wańkowicz
Melchior Wańkowicz (10 January 1892 – 10 September 1974) was a Polish army officer, popular writer, political journalist and publisher. He is most famous for his reporting for the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II and writing ...
(1892–1974).
["Gawęda," ''Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN'' (PWN Universal Encyclopedia), vol. 2, 1974, p. 26.]
See also
*
Saga
Notes
References
*"Gawęda," ''Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN'' (PWN Universal Encyclopedia),
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
,
Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, vol. 2, 1974, p. 26.
*"Gawęda," ''
Encyklopedia Polski'' (Encyclopedia of Poland),
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
, Wydawnictwo Ryszard Kluszczyński, 1996, , p. 175.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaweda
Polish literature
Literary genres