La confession d’un enfant de la fin-de-siècle dans Sans dogme de Henryk Sienkiewicz
The Confessions of a Fin-de-Siècle Child in Without Dogma by Henryk Sienkiewicz

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines the figure of Leon Płoszowski in Without Dogma by Henryk Sienkiewicz as an embodiment of fin-de-siècle sensibility marked by hypertrophic consciousness, scepticism, and the aestheticisation of existence. The protagonist appears as a hypersensitive subject whose excessive lucidity turns every emotion into an object of analysis and neutralises any possibility of action, affective commitment, or social engagement. The diary is interpreted as a space of self-staging and self-surveillance, where writing does not bring release but rather indefinitely postpones choice and the exercise of the will. This radical introspection produces an existential neurosis, combining moral fatigue, indecision, and withdrawal from the world. Finally, the study shows that this sensibility is presented as an ethical and psychological impasse, making Płoszowski a critical figure of disenchanted modernity and its unfulfilled promises.

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