Poland between the West, Russia and… Turkey . The mythologization of Polish-Turkish relations in Ryszard Berwiński’s memoirs and correspondence from the Ottoman Empire
Poland between the West, Russia and… Turkey . The mythologization of Polish-Turkish relations in Ryszard Berwiński’s memoirs and correspondence from the Ottoman Empire

Summary/Abstract: The study analyzes Ryszard Berwiński’s memoirs, letters, and articles written in the 1850s after the poet had emigrated to the Ottoman Empire during the Crimean War. The article focuses primar- ily on the literary legacy of Berwiński who actively promoted cooperation with Turkey during the fight for Poland’s independence. The main emphasis was placed on the mythologization of Polish-Turkish rela- tions, Berwiński’s views on the East-West dichotomy, and his commentaries on the political systems and history of Poland and Turkey. The myth of a “righteous Turkey” and the deconstruction of the concept of Poland as the bulwark of Christianity in Europe seem particularly interesting in this context. The analysis of Berwiński’s historical self-awareness aims was undertaken to expand the existing research on the political thought during the Partitions of Poland. Poland’s relations with Turkey, the only neighbor of the first Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that did not participate in any of the three Partitions, constitute an interesting chapter in Polish history, but remain insufficiently investigated.

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