Mythology of Steppe in Józef Bohdan Zaleski’s Poetry (with Maria in the Background)

Abstract

The article studies the formation and functions of the myth of the steppe in the poetry of Józef Bohdan Zaleski, one of the leading representatives of the so-called “Ukrainian school” in Polish Romantic literature. The analysis situates Zaleski’s poetic imagination within the broader 19th-century Polish discourse on Ukraine initiated by Antoni Malczewski’s Maria. Following E. Kasperski’s concept, Maria opened a new phase in the Polish reflection on Ukraine, introducing the mythic, cultural, and moral dimensions of the region. The paper addresses how the idea of the steppe developed from a geographical and ethnographic image into a mythopoetic symbol of freedom, memory, and spiritual continuity. The research applies a comparative and contextual approach, juxtaposing Zaleski’s and Malczewski’s representations of Ukraine with critical interpretations by E. Feliksiak, E. Kasperski, and W. Hnatiuk. Textual analysis focuses on recurring motifs –grave, spirit (Duch), steppe plants (nature), poet (pieśń), that form a system of poetic symbols revealing different layers of meaning: historical, religious, and metaphysical. While Malczewski’s steppe in Maria reflects the allegorical “theatrum mundi” of the Polish-Ukrainian past, Zaleski transforms it into a personal and Cossack myth. His vision of the “steppe of graves” symbolizes the rebirth of what cannot die – the human spirit, dignity, and the idea of statehood. The poet’s lyrical self appears as an heir to both Christian and Pagan traditions, awaiting inspiration from the “Duch od stepu,” understood as a metaphor for poetic and national awakening.

Zaleski’s Romantic myth of the steppe reveals the ambivalence of Romantic consciousness: nostalgia for a lost homeland combined with the search for a transcendent homeland in art. The steppe becomes both the homeland of the Cossacks and the meeting ground of cultures, thus reflecting the multilayered identity of the region. The study concludes that the myth of the steppe functioned as a medium of cultural memory and an instrument of reconciling divided historical narratives. By transforming the collective myth into a personal spiritual experience, Zaleski ensured the continuity of Romantic mythopoesis and preserved the Ukrainian landscape as a space of his poetic revelation.