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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Joseph Conrad-Korzeniowski, an English Writer with a Polish Soul: Joseph Conrad’s Polish Heritage

Joanna Skolik

subject

Polish Eastern Borderlandschivalric traditionPolish identityPolish soulmedia_common.quotation_subjectArt historyJoseph Conrad-KorzeniowskiArtSoulEnglish writermedia_common

description

The article presents a portrait of Joseph Conrad-Korzeniowski, an English writer with a Polish soul. Conrad—the last Polish Romantic—did not only manage to introduce Polish dreams and longings into English (and Western) literature, but also transformed the Polish experience into a universal one. Writing about exotic, faraway places, he disseminated myths concerning Polish national identity, chivalric tradition and the Polish Eastern Borderland atmosphere and ethos. Conrad, a very demanding writer, never presents ready-made answers, nor does he offer simple solutions to the problems of his protagonists. Moreover, everybody can understand Conrad in their own personal way, for he is perceived as “one of us,” no matter who “we” are.

10.4467/20843941yc.18.009.11244https://doi.org/10.4467/20843941YC.18.009.11244