Józef Ignacy Kraszewski’s "Zygmuntowskie czasy" versus Charles Dickens Cover Image

„Zygmuntowskie czasy” Józefa Ignacego Kraszewskiego wobec Charlesa Dickensa
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski’s "Zygmuntowskie czasy" versus Charles Dickens

Author(s): Aleksandra Budrewicz-Beratan
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Comparative Study of Literature, Polish Literature
Published by: Towarzystwo Literackie im. Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: Józef Ignacy Kraszewski; Charles Dickens; English-Polish literary connections; literary comparative studies; the figure of the child in literature

Summary/Abstract: The parallel between Józef Ignacy Kraszewski and Charles Dickens has been noticed and analysed by scholars (J. Kulczycka-Saloni, M. Kocięcka, T. Sobieraj). The aim of this article is to take part in this very research; on the basis of Kraszewski’s novel "Zygmuntowskie czasy" [‘King Sigismund’s Time’], the paper offers another branch of the comparative dialogue. The author compares Kraszewski’s "Zygmuntowskie czasy" and Dickens’s Oliver Twist. Such idea has already been offered by Adam Bar, whose study is shortly discussed and taken as a point of departure for the author’s own discussion (Bar’s strict statement related to Kraszewski’s passive copying of Dickens, and his lack of originality). The article offers a comparison of the fate of the main characters, Staś ("Zygmuntowskie czasy") and Oliver ("Oliver Twist"), the novels’ social and cultural backgrounds, the depictions of the society. Emphasised are the convergences in the depictions of these orphans’ lot and the reactions of the surrounding society.

  • Issue Year: XLVII/2012
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 421-433
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Polish