Gatunkowe obrazy świata: sielanka, litania, sonet
Generic Worldviews: Idyll, Litany, Sonnet

Summary/Abstract: In this essay the term “worldview” is understood, according to German tradition, both as a Weltbild, or ‘world picture,’ and Lebensanschauung, or ‘outlook on life’. The article describes the analogies between generic worldview and linguistic worldview, taking into account their two properties, namely formal conservatism, and selectivity. Subsequently, genres whose worldviews expand beyond the level of linguistic expressibility are discussed on the example of the idyll and litany, i.e. poetic conventions which inspired their own painting and musical traditions. The article concludes with considerations on the sonnet as a convention that, nowadays, is regarded as emblematic for the lack of ideological commitment. However, as the author of the paper argues, in the initial period, the sonnet might have also been equipped with its own generic worldview.

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