patriotism – Cosmos|Hearth

Dec 24, 1798 – Nov 26, 1855

Adam Mickiewicz was a Pole, born in 1798, on grounds taken over by the Russian Empire. He lived during the World War II, and the Nazi Occupation. This was a time when Poland was fighting for their independance. Poland’s existence, was under a lot of pressure. Adam Mickiewicz took the events of World War II, and the effect that the events had on humanity, and he turned it into beautiful poetry.

Adam Mickiewicz was a Polish poet, who practically invented romanticism in Poland, and in Europe. Mickiewicz fought for Poland’s independence. He believed in patriotism, and religion above all other. Adam Mickiewicz was able to bring poetry into life. He understood humanity, and nature. He gave Poland hope during the nazi occupation. Roman Koropeckyj states, “His name served as a point of reference whenever the survival of the polish nation was at stake, and whenever ideas about its fate needed legitimation” (Koropeckyj, Preface, ix) Poland’s independence, and patriotism was highly influenced by Adam Mickiewicz. He inspired many Poles to fight, and to never give up on their country.

His two most finest poems are, Dziady, and Pan Tadeusz. Pan Tadeusz has become the national epic poem of Poland. In his poems he intertwines, horror, and death with nationality, and patriotism. His poems are clear, and pure. Adam Mickiewicz was greatly inspired by Byron. Adam Mickiewicz was not afraid to say what he thinks, and feels. His poem, Dziady was banned because, it made the russians uncomfortable due to the poems anti-russian remarks. His poems embrace religion, nationalism, patriotism, and humanity. His poems taught the world how to love, and respect a country. He inspired people to do everything, and anything for their heritage, and country.

Adam Mickiewicz earned his historical significance by being a great poet, as well as being a great enforcer of nationalism. He was interested in politics, and always fought for the good of the people. His fight for Poland’s independence, and his love for his country is what inspired many others. His poems touched the hearts, and lives of people universally. His spirit, and emotions influenced, and changed patriotism all around the world. His thoughts, ideas, and words; his poems, embraced all humanity. Manfred states, “ Mickiewicz always united the Polish cause with that of the whole of humanity and never lowered his ideals to the level of narrow nationalism” (Manfred, 355). Thus, his poems were universal. He rejected separatism, and embraced unionization. Mickiewicz did not discriminate, he believed all people deserve rights, and freedom. He stood up for humanity. Mickiewicz understood social, and political problems nationwide. While fighting for independence, he was also fighting for liberation.

The name Mickiewicz has become a well known and well respected name. Adam Mickiewicz has caught the attention of many other historical figures. For instance, M azzini Giuseppe described Mickiewicz as, “more than a poet: a prophet” (Nagorski, p.99). Today, Poland thanks Adam Mickiewicz for fighting for Poland, and for inspiring others to fight. Kridl Manfred states, “He is the main spiritual source of modern Polish patriotism…” (Manfred, 359) His writings, have made Poland’s patriotism, and religion into what it is today. On the global level, Adam Mickiewicz transformed Romanticism and made it his own. He was a genius who brought poetry to life. His works are raw, beautiful, and relatable.

Agnieszka Prymicz

Works Cited

Blum, George P. “Nazism.” Salem Press Encyclopedia (2017): Research Starters , (accessed November 9, 2017).

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=1b322f79-493 b-4f45-9f71-caf282391ae1%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcG U9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=96397535&db=ers

Cochran, Peter. “Roman Koropeckyj. Adam Mickiewicz: The Life of a Romantic.” Pushkin Review 11 (2008): 193+. Literature Resource Center (accessed November 9, 2017).

http://go.galegroup.com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=ocul_mcmaster& v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA259467591&asid=57a63f42b6a65c30939f362d72e68946 .

Kridl, Manfred. “Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855).” American Slavic and East European Review 7, no. 4 (1948): 340-60. (accessed November 9, 2017).

Click to access 2491889.pdf

Nagórski, Zygmunt. “The Adam Mickiewicz Year.” The Polish Review 1, no. 1 (1956): 99-107. (accessed November 9, 2017).

http://www.jstor.org/stable/25776032 .

Trencsenyi, B., Kopecek, M. “National Romanticism: The Formation of National Movements.” Discourses of Collective Identity in Central and Southeast Europe (2007):1770–1945,
(accessed November 9, 2017).

http://books.openedition.org/ceup/2229

Koropeckyj, Robert. “Adam Mickiewicz: The Life of a Romantic” Cornell University Press (2008). (accessed November 9, 2017).

https://quod-lib-umich-edu.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=acls;idno=heb32418#

Other relevant reading(s):

Zakrzewski, Christopher A. “Pan Tadeusz.” Sarmatian Review 35, no. 3 (2015): 1939+. Academic OneFile (accessed November 10, 2017).

http://go.galegroup.com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=ocul_mcmaster &v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA428998858&sid=ebsco&asid=86482ef42efa557512312e609442f d1b .

Leo Tolstoy, well-known author of “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”, was born in 1828 to a Russian aristocratic family. His father was Count Nikolai Ill’ich Tolstoi and his mother Princess Mariya Nikolaeva Volkonskaya (Hanson, 1979). Tolstoy lost his mother before he turned two years old and his father before he turned 10 years old.

After the death of his parents, he was sent to live with his “pious” Aunt Tatiana; he later claimed that she became the greatest influence of his life (Bhattacharaya, 1981). At 15 years old, he started to attend the University of Kazan, however, formal education did not suit him and he left university before his graduation. Around this time, he had inherited his family’s property at Yasnaya Polyana; Yasnaya Polyana was also the place where he was born. His lifestyle became unhealthy after that (Hanson, 1979) and, as can be seen later in his writings, he was constantly conflicted between abstinence or indulgence (Bhattacharaya, 1981). Eventually, at the age of 23, he became tired with his unhealthy way of life and he joined his brother and his regiment in Caucasus. He served until after the Crimean war. It was around this time that he had started to write. Tolstoy left the military at the age of 27, with a reputation of being non-violent(Hanson, 1979). In 1876, he converted to Christianity (Bhattacharaya, 1981) and in November 1910, he died of pneumonia in Astapovo train station, with his daughter next to him (Christoyannopoulos, 2010).

During his lifetime, Russia was gradually experiencing “despotism, orthodoxy and seldom”(Hanson, 1979). Despite being a powerful military empire at the time, it was less mechanized and industrialized than other countries (especially Britain) and so was behind the progress of other European countries. Russia was full of different nationalities and races. In Tolstoy’s childhood, there was oppression and racism against certain groups. Many groups, Russian or not, were excluded from society’s rewards and benefits. Monetary possession and bloodline were a particular factor in this (Green, 1986). Tolstoy found himself constantly in-between the two groups, as he was born a part of the aristocracy but saw life as a peasant to possess greater happiness. There was also heavy censoring in Russia during the years Tolstoy was active as a writer. Nevertheless, Tolstoy was able to spread his ideas through his writing (Lavrin, 1946).

Although, Leo Tolstoy was famous for his Russian literature, he was also known for his radical political and religious thinking. He critiqued the state (Christoyannopoulos, 2008) and at times would use religion as either a comparison, and an accomplice of the state’s corruption in Russia. Tolstoy saw corruption in the institution of the church: he did not go to church or believe in church dogmas and took his own perspective in the religion of Christianity (Christoyannopoulos, 2010).

One of his most famous works was “The Kingdom of God is Within You”, published in 1893. Although it was not published in Russia, the writing itself moved around and was read. One idea that the book mentioned was how everyone is caught in a cycle of violence and has no chance of escaping it. Leaders controlled the populace using a series of methods: intimidating, corrupting, hypnotizing the people, and finally selecting from the men who have undergone the previous steps and succumbed to them. In “The Kingdom of God is Within You”, Tolstoy had also thought that the people had more to lose from the present economy, rather than gain. The rich would exploit the poor and pretend to be the righteous ones in society. He also believed that the goodness could not be simultaneous with power. The good cannot become powerful and the powerful cannot be good. “The Kingdom of God is Within You” eventually ended up influencing Gandhi’s views on non-violence resistance to the state (Higgs, 2015).

Tolstoy was also a non-violent anarchist. He thought that violence was irrational, harmful and “counterproductive” and that love was the solution. He was critical of capitalism and patriotism. He saw capitalism and ownership of private property as “wage slavery” (Christoyannopoulos, 2010). Civilization and man-made laws, to him, were drenched in materialism (Lavrin, 1946). Patriotism, to Tolstoy, was a way to control people, not give the people what they needed (Higgs, 2015 and Christoyannopoulos, 2010). Tolstoy was sympathetic towards revolutionaries (Christoyannopoulos, 2010) while at the same time, he condemned revolution. Seven years after his death, the Russian Revolution came into full swing, and ironically, Tolstoy became an indirect “stimulus” to it (Lavrin, 1946). Lenin, a significant leader in the Russian Revolution, despite disliking Tolstoy’s thinking, connected his character to his own ideals and to promote his own educated self (Green,1986).

Min Jee Kim

Works Cited

Bhattacharaya, Ashok K. “Leo Tolstoy: A Biographical Reappraisal.” Indian Literature 24, no. 2 (1981): 67-77. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24158486.

Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre. “‘Bethink Yourselves Or You Will Perish’: Leo Tolstoy’s Voice a Centenary After His Death.” Anarchist Studies 18, no. 2 (2010): 11-18. http://libaccess.mcmaster.ca.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/docview/851707476?accountid=12347.

Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre J. M. E. “Leo Tolstoy on the State: A Detailed Picture of Tolstoy’s Denunciation of State Violence and Deception.” Anarchist Studies 16, no. 1 (2008): 20-47. http://libaccess.mcmaster.ca.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/docview/210984992?accountid=12347.

Green, Martin. The Origins of Non-violence: Tolstoy and Gandhi in their Historical Settings, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University, 1986.

Hanson, Earl. “Leo Tolstoy: Pedagogue and Storyteller of Old Russia.” Language Arts 56, no. 4 (1979): 434-36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41404825.

Higgs, Robert. “Tolstoy’s Manifesto on the State, Christian Anarchy, and Pacifism.” The Independent Review 19, no. 3 (Winter, 2015): 471-479. http://libaccess.mcmaster.ca.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/docview/1643164394?accountid=12347.

Lavrin, Janko. Tolstoy. New York: Russell & Russell, 1946.