628996139

DAVID WELSH (ANN ARBOR, MICH.)

SIENKIEWICZA "TRILOGY”

A study in Novelistic Techniąues

Originally a dissertation written partly to fulfil the reąuirements oj the PhD degree at the University of London, this study has been somewhat revised and eipanded for the present publication. Research was assisted by the American Council of Learned Societies; publication by the Kościuszko Foundation (New York) and the Horace H. Rackham Graduate school, Uniuersity of Michigan.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

David Welsh

INTRODUCTION

Literary criticism is only now coming to terms with the novels of Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846-1916). But his novels, and in particular the senes of historical novels known as the Trilogy, have been enjoyed and loved for some five generations, both in Poland and abroad. There is usually good reason for suoh lasting popularity in literaturę and it is hoped that this study, through critical analysds of the Trilogy, will reveal some of the factors that have contributed to making Sienkiewicz a major novelist.

As was recently pointed out, "publicistic disputes which fili a large part of Sienkiewicz^ bibliography now belong irrevocably to the past... What is needed is a study of Sienkiewicz^ writing art”.¹> This study focusses primarily on his "writing art”, which means that certain topdcs have been merely touched upon (Sienkiewicz and the Warsaw Censorship committee, his attitude to other novelists, textual criticism of the novels), and yet other topics have not been mentioned at all (his biography, national or morał issues raised by the novels).

* ^{1 1}

The text of the Trilogy used in this study is that published as: Henryk Sienkiewicz, Dzieła — wydanie zbiorowe edited by Julian Krzyżanowski vols. VII-XIX (Warsaw, 1949-1950). Other volumes in this work are designated as Dzieła, followed by volume number and page number or numbers in Roman and Arabie numerals respectively. The individual volumes of the Trilogy are designated as OM. (Ogniem i mieczem), P. (Potop), and PW. (Pan Wołodyjowski), with the same system of enumeration. Reference is also madę to Julian Krzyżanowski, Henryk Sienkiewicz — kalendarz życia i twórczości (Warsaw, 1956), designated as Kalendarz. Translations are by the present writer, unless otherwise stated. Appendix II provides original texts of morę extended ąuotations.

217

1

Editorial, Przegląd humanistyczny XI (no. 3) (1967), p. 1. Sec also Aniela Piorunowi and Kazimierz Wyka eds. Henryk Sienkiewicz. Twórczość i recepcja światowa (Cracow, 1968) pp. 5-6.