Kto wymyślił „kwestię południową”?
Who Devised the “Southern Question”?

Summary/Abstract: An introduction to reflections on the so-called southern question, i.e. one of the most important fields of research conducted by Marta Petrusewicz. Examining this problem from the viewpoint of comparative history the author proved that it is not solely socio-economic but, predominantly, an outcome of a discourse that assumed shape within the framework of the global opposition of the North and the South. The “southern question” came into being after the unification of Italy and the formulation of the “national question”, i.e. during a period when an outline of a distinct tension between assorted regions became distinct. The authors of this narration were, to large extent, intellectuals from the South. After the defeat of the 1848 revolution they perceived their own society as passive, corrupt, and incapable of independent modernization. The article also discusses the language applied by the intellectuals and the impact of brigantaggio upon the concept of southern Italy. The author places the “southern question” within the wider context of Enlightenment ideas in nineteenth century Europe. In this way, the “southern question” became not solely a description of reality but also a permanent and stereotype manner of thinking about the South as a problem to be solved.

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