Litwa między Wielkim Księstwem a kresami. Powieści historyczne Kraszewskiego na tle dziewiętnastowiecznych wyobrażeń o litewskiej przeszłości

ENThe subject of the paper is an attempt to present the transformation of the ‘image’ of old Lithuania in the historical novels of Kraszewski and to confront it with the problems of cultural and historical awareness in the literature of the 19th century. The uniqueness of the author of Kunigas is also emphasized. The situation of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania under the Russian partition particularly stimulated the revival of memories of the past. Its mythological character was a result of both defense (against russification) and of compensation, by virtue of which the literary works depicted the past as grand. In the second half of the 19th century these tendencies were affected by an increasing conflict over the country’s the heritage between the firm convictions that Polish culture dominated in the territory of the former Grand Duchy and the revival movements of Lithuanians and Belorussians. The Russian authorities were trying to take advantage of this situation and to support separatist tendencies. Two opposing tendencies influenced the image of old Lithuania in Polish literature. One, developed in the Eastern Frontier (Kresy), concerned a romantic period o f ‘lost Arcadia’ distinctly stressing Polish supremacy. The other one treated Lithuania as an independent entity with its own culture and identity. Kraszewski’s literature expressed the latter approach, as evidenced by both his historical works (Litwa. Starożytne dzieje [...], Wilno od początków jego do 1750), an epic series Anafielas, and the novels with distinctive Lithuanian themes (Krzyżacy 1410, Sentko, Matka królów, Kunigas). Kunigas ( 1882) deserves particular attention. It is constructed around the theme of the legendary defense of a Lithuanian castle of Pillcny. Kraszewski’s works, unlike those of numerous other Polish authors, were appreciated by the activists of Lithuanian revival, who translated and adapted many of them.The final part of the paper outlines Lithuanian themes of Sienkiewicz’s Krzyżacy, and a tendency, emerging at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, referring to the tradition of the Polish-Lithuanian union in the former Republic of Both Nations.