A Projecting Interpretation. Prus’s Reading of Mickiewicz’s Zdania i uwagi

Abstract

The article focuses on the interpretation of selected aphorisms of the Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855) made by Bolesław Prus (1847–1912), a prose writer and representative of realism in Polish post-Romantic literature. Prus interpreted religious, sometimes almost mystical, aphorisms as commendation of hard work, activism, and as a manifesto of practical ethics. Inspired by the mystical thoughts of Angelus Silesius, Jacob Boehme and Saint-Martin, Mickiewicz’s aphorisms are perceived as exceptionally ambiguous. Prus, however, projected his own literary and philosophical mindset onto the micro-texts of the Romantic poet, and as a consequence oversimplified their meaning. What he did is here called a projecting interpretation.