Coquettish devil. On Polish works by Józef Julian Sękowski (frontiers and Romantic canon)

Abstract

The presented article discusses the peculiarities of the Polish work of Józef Julian Sękowski – widely known as the Russian prose writer and publisher of “Bibljotieka for Chteniya”. Contrary to Mieczysław Inglot’s earlier findings, it was possible to show that many unsigned articles published in the pages of “Bałamut” in 1830–1836 came from Sękowski’s pen. They are an interesting example of the continuation of the tradition of the “Cobblestone News” circle, but, above all, they are evidence of their author’s interest in the present day. As the research of Louis Pedrotti and Melissa Frazier shows, Sękowski’s work can be treated as an intriguing example of “romantic encounters” between the East and the West, periphery and the center, tradition and modernity, and finally literature and press. In turn, from the perspective of research on the Polish 19th century, it can complement the Romantic canon built on the “Mickiewiczian paradigm”. The presented article is also a proposal to discuss the chances of publishing Sękowski’s Polish works.