''The Peasants'' () is a novel written by the Polish author

Władysław Reymont Władysław Stanisław Reymont (; born Rejment; 7 May 1867 – 5 December 1925) was a Polish novelist and the laureate of the 1924 Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known work is the award-winning four-volume novel '' Chłopi'' (''The Peasant ...

in four parts between 1904 and 1909. He started writing it in 1897, but because of a railway accident and health problems, it took seven years to complete. The first parts of the story were published in the weekly magazine '' Tygodnik Illustrowany''. The novel has been translated into at least 27 languages. Władysław Reymont received the 1924 Nobel Prize in Literature for this work.

Description

Each of the four parts represents a season in the life of the peasants – Autumn (published in 1904), Winter (published in 1904), Spring (published in 1906), and Summer (published in 1909). This division underlines the relationship of human life with nature.

Main characters

* Maciej Boryna – the richest man in the village and the main character of the novel. * Antek Boryna – Maciej's son, husband of Hanka * Hanka Boryna – Antek's wife and a mother of three children * Jagna – a beautiful 19-year-old girl and the main female character of the novel.

Family Tree and Relationships of Selected Characters at the beginning of the novel

Main themes and events

* The conflict between Antek and his father which is connected with a piece of land and a beautiful woman – Jagna. * Hanka's struggle to salvage her marriage and family. * The poignant story of the farmhand – Jakub. * The unrest sown by the attentions of assorted men of the village toward Jagna. * The tension between the peasants and the nobility, over the disputed sale of the peasants' forest. * The patterns of the peasants' lives closely tracking the seasons. * The beggar Old Agata and her transit into and out of the village corresponding with the passage of the seasons and the tenacity of life.

Customs and traditions

''The Peasants'' deals not only with the everyday life of people, but also with traditions connected with the most important Polish festivals.
1. Traditions connected with wedding and marriage: * preparation for a wedding and a marriage * decoration of a dance-hall * the cutting of a

bride A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is a newlywed. When marrying, if the bride's future spouse is a man, he is usually referred to as the ''bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, ...

's hair (symbolic of starting a new life) * the first dance during a wedding is dedicated to bride * wedding games etc. 2. Traditions connected with

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

: * baking cakes, cooking Christmas meals * selling of holy wafer by carol singers * Christmas supper * going to the church for midnight

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

3. Traditions connected with

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

: * breaking of Lenten fast * dyeing eggs * “ wet Monday” 4. Traditions connected with everyday life: *

pickling Pickling is the process of food preservation, preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either Anaerobic organism, anaerobic fermentation (food), fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects t ...

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...

* spinning of

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

* following of folk wisdom to plant agricultural crops

Art movements included in the novel

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

- a style in painting developed in France in the late 19th century that uses colour to show the effects of light on things and to suggest atmosphere rather than showing exact details. In the book we can find impressionism in the descriptions of nature.
Naturalism - a style of art or writing that shows people, things and experiences as they really are. In the book naturalism is used to present everyday life. The most famous fragment of the book when naturalism is shown is when Jakub – the farmhand - is cutting his leg.
Realism - a style in art or literature that shows things and people as they are in real life (detailed descriptions of nature, traditions, everyday life and heroes).

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

- the use of symbols to represent ideas, especially in art and literature (the scene of the Maciej's death, which symbolises a strong relationship between people and nature).

English translations

The novel was first translated into English by Michael Henry Dziewicki and published in 1924. A new English translation, by Anna Zaranko, was published in November 2022.

Screen adaptations

''The Peasants'' was adapted for the screen in 1922, 1972,

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, and

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. A 1922 film adaptation was directed by Eugeniusz Modzelewski; all copies (even incomplete ones) were lost during WWII. A 1972 TV miniseries adaptation was directed by Jan Rybkowski, who also directed the 1973 film adaptation. In 2020, it was announced that an animated film based on the novel was to be released with a full trailer revealed. The film is directed by

Dorota Kobiela DK Welchman (née Dorota Kobiela) (born 1978) is a Polish filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. She is best known for co-directing her first fully painted animated feature film ''Loving Vincent'' (2017) with her husband Hugh Welchman. Career ...

and, much like her previous film ''

Loving Vincent ''Loving Vincent'' is a 2017 experimental animated historical drama film about the life of the painter Vincent van Gogh, in particular the circumstances of his death. It is the first fully painted animated feature film. The film, written and d ...

'', the film is entirely rotoscoped with paintings. The world premiere took place at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

on September 13, 2023, in the Special Presentations section.

References

External links

Critical Essay
by

Per Hallström Per August Leonard Hallström (29 September 1866 – 18 February 1960) was a Swedish author, short-story writer, dramatist, poet and member of the Swedish Academy. He joined the academy in 1908, and served as its Permanent Secretary from 1 ...

, Chairman of the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy
Profile of Reymont
* (Translated by Michael Dziewicki) {{DEFAULTSORT:Peasants, The 1904 novels Works originally published in Polish newspapers Novels first published in serial form Novels set in Poland 20th-century Polish novels Polish novels adapted into films Novels by Władysław Reymont