„Teraz ja szczęścia szukam, ot w tej księdze”. O sensacyjności prasy wileńskiej lat 1815–1822 oraz "Ballad i romansów" Adama Mickiewicza
'Now I seek happiness, here in this book'. On the Sensationalism of Vilnius Press in the Years 1815–1822 and 'Ballads and Romances' by Adam Mickiewicz

Summary/Abstract: Since 1815, Vilnius had witnessed a significant development of the press. The renewed 'Dziennik Wileński', the newly established 'Tygodnik Wileński', 'Wiadomości Brukowe', and several other minor periodicals – including some with a specific profile, such as 'Pamiętnik Magnetyczny Wileński' – provided readers with information about events from various parts of Europe and the world. Some of these journals offered specialized scientific knowledge – in particular, 'Dziennik Wileński', which followed the model of Enlightenment journaux savants. Characteristically, alongside reports, treatises, and accounts signed by respected scholars, these periodicals also published (often on the same pages) unverified information and sensational news. In this article, the author proposes viewing 'Ballads and Romances' from this perspective: that of new media of communication, the birth of a popular Vilnius press, and the emergence of what F. Skarbek called a 'gossiping public'. The signals of distance in Mickiewicz’s poems toward accounts of supernatural events – such as the ironic footnotes ('There is a rumor that...'), the frequent use of quotation marks in the ballads, and the narrators’ own declarations of uncertainty and confusion – make it possible to situate these works within a communicative reality in which science mingled with journalism, news reporting, and social gossip.

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