Norwidowski „biały kwiat”. W poszukiwaniu kulturowych kontekstów
Norwid’s “white flower”. In search of cultural contexts

Summary/Abstract: The article reflects on the cultural contexts of Norwid’s concept of the “white flower”. In particular, it explores three significant areas of reference. The first is traditional rhetoric, particularly the debate between Asiatics and Atticists concerning the proper style of speech – the issue of a flowery, descriptive, ornamental style. Due to his deep interest in the person and thought of Cicero, Norwid was certainly familiar with this debate. The second context constitutes the knowledge of colours (Newton, Goethe, Runge), which was within Norwid’s sphere of competence as an artist. In this context, the article explores the ways of perceiving and understanding the colour white, including the problem of the semantics of white in Norwid’s literary works. The third area of consideration covers the problem of the creation of the authorial subject – the narrator of Białe kwiaty [White Flowers], and in particular his spiritual life, between contemplation and meditation, leading to the formulation of a programme of new aesthetics, the centre of which becomes the “white flower”.

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