CATASTROPHIC MOTIFS IN VOLYN POLISH-LANGUAGE POETRY OF THE INTERWAR TWENTY YEARS

Abstract

The article examines the literary manifestations of catastrophism on the example of Polish-language poetry of Volyn created during the interwar period. The attention is drawn, on the one hand, to universal factors, and on the other hand, to the political and domestic preconditions for the development of this trend in literature. Attention is paid to the catastrophic motifs in the works of Wacław Iwaniuk, Jan Śpiewak, Józef Łobodowski and other representatives of the poetry group “Volyn”, as well as the works of representatives of other literary groups. The influence of J. Czechowicz and Cz. Miłosz on apocalyptic interpre- tations of the contemporary reality is revealed. It is concluded that the motif of a small homeland was a key one in the poetic space of the Ukrainian-Polish borderland.

The end of human life in the minds of the catastrophists was associated with the apocalyptic end of the world. Artists unanimously predicted the approach of a new world war. In addition, an immediate threat was approaching the Volyn lands from the eastern borders that separated the then the Commonwealth of Poland from the totalitarian Soviet regime.

We should also recall the fact that in the interwar period, the Great Famine was artificially provoked on Ukrainian lands that fell under communist influence, which was known to the inhabitants of Volyn, and thus the catastrophic motif of famine on a fertile land can be found in the works of representatives of catastrophism. The continuation of apocalyptic motifs in the works of Jan Śpіewak and Jozef Łobodowski, as well as in the works of some representatives of the Scamander group, was associated with a premonition of inevitable emigration from the territory of their small homeland. Therefore, the most frequent motif was a warning about the loss of their native land, which eventually manifested itself in the coming years and further deepened the poets’ catastrophic visions.

Given that there were pessimistic and optimistic varieties of catastrophism, we can distinguish its pessimistic variant within the Volyn text. Particular attention should also be paid to the role of the landscape in the formation of catastrophic visions in Volyn poetry, which closely intertwined the features of the literary movements of authenticists and catastrophists.