King Matt The First as homo viator

Abstract

The analysis of Janusz Korczak’s texts in terms of the journey motif and homo viator hero. Presenting the subject against a backdrop of human needs concerning travelling, a life journey of a man as well as showing other authors’ approaches to the subject. Method: Hermeneutic method, narratology, psychoanalysis. The research has shown a high interest in the journey motif and the road motif in world, Polish and children’s literature of the 19th century. The analysis of Korczak’s works has proved that the writer deliberately employed the journey motif and the life as a journey metaphor to deliver his perception of the world. The „physical” journey of the hero is a metaphor for his spiritual and psychological peregrination, which is applicable in numerous literary contexts.