Cyprian Norwid’s “Civilization” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “Shadow”

Abstrakt

This paper is an attempt to trace the relationships and textual affinities between two short stories: Cyprian Norwid’s “Cywilizacja” (“Civilization”) and Edgar Allan Poe’s “Shadow: A Parable”. The comparative angle is strengthened by the fact that Norwid’s 1852-1853 stay in America may have enabled him to read Poe’s stories soon after their publication