‘Emotion more lasting than great walls turned to rubble’. Between tradition and the modern: Irzykowski on Żeromski

Abstract

This paper shall discuss Karol Irzykowski’s views on the prose work of Stefan Żeromski. The shifting nature of the former towards the latter – author of Ludzie Bezdomni [The Homeless] 1899 – shall be examined; ones that changed from criticism to approval. In this context Irzykowski’s critical concept developed in his collection of essays, Czyn i słowo [Action and the Word] 1913, shall be taken into account and it shall also be argued that Irzykowski’s polemical discourse in respect to Żeromski was an integral part of his literary manifesto.This paper shall discuss Karol Irzykowski’s views on the prose work of Stefan Żeromski. The shifting nature of the former towards the latter – author of Ludzie Bezdomni [The Homeless] 1899 – shall be examined; ones that changed from criticism to approval. In this context Irzykowski’s critical concept developed in his collection of essays, Czyn i słowo [Action and the Word] 1913, shall be taken into account and it shall also be argued that Irzykowski’s polemical discourse in respect to Żeromski was an integral part of his literary manifesto