Mythologising, Ceremonies, Apotheoses: Piłsudski and the Legions in Cracow Theatre
Diana Poskuta-Włodek
The Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4665-0864
Abstract
Cracow theatre played a special part in the Polish ritual of passage from subjugation to independence in 1918 and soon became an object of intense mythologizing itself. Its origins can be traced back to the premieres of Polish Romantic theatre staged in Cracow and the influence exerted by Stanisław Wyspiański who used the language of myths and the symbolism of remnants, being also a deconstructivist who redefined the dominant tropes, legends, and symbols of his time. When there was a need to create new myths at the time of building the Second Polish Republic, Wyspiański and the Romantics provided the inspiration as well. The legend of Józef Piłsudski as the national saviour and the myth of “holly” Legions became key ingredients of the new narrative. The article describes how they functioned in the Cracow theatre until the outbreak of the Second World War. Piłsudski was fashioned to be the new “Spirit King” from the Król-Duch poem by Słowacki and the new Konrad from Mickiewicz’s Dziady (Forefathers Eve) and Wyspiański’s Wyzwolenie (Liberation). The process of mythologizing, which intensified after the coup in May 1926, spread all over town, and all over the country, taking over public emotions and public spaces to celebrate Piłsudski and the Legions in great public performances. The burial of Słowacki’s remains, brought over from France to be interred in the Wawel Cathedral, and then the monumental funeral of Piłsudski where a similar rite was observed served the same mythologizing purpose. The last event of this kind was a monumental outdoor staging of Hymn na cześć oręża polskiego (A Hymn to the Polish Armed Forces) by Ludwik Hieronim Morstin at the Wawel Castle in August 1939. The three performances froze historical time, as it were, turning it into a cyclic funerary ritual and holiday.
Keywords:
1918, Poland's independence, theatre and politics, Józef Piłsudski, theatre in Cracow, Polish theatre historyReferences
Adamczyk, E. (1997). Społeczność Krakowa i jej życie. W: J. Bieniarzówna, & J. M. Małecki (red.), Dzieje Krakowa: Kraków w latach 1918–1939. Kraków.
Google Scholar
Chwalba, A. (2018). Legiony polskie 1914–1918. Kraków.
Google Scholar
Cisek, J. (2003). Józef Piłsudski w Krakowie. Kraków.
Google Scholar
Kamiński, L. (1980). Romantyzm a ideologia: Główne ugrupowania polityczne Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej
Google Scholar
wobec tradycji romantycznej. Wrocław.
Google Scholar
Kosiński, D. (2010). Teatra polskie: Historie. Warszawa.
Google Scholar
Leder, A. (2017). Polaku, śnisz, a możesz się obudzić!. W: P. Augustyniak (red.), Wyspiański: Zbudź się, Polaku. Gdańsk.
Google Scholar
Partyga, E. (2016). Wiek XIX: Przedstawienia. Warszawa.
Google Scholar
Poskuta-Włodek, D. (1993). Co dzień powtarza się gra...: Teatr im. J. Słowackiego w Krakowie. Kraków.
Google Scholar
Poskuta-Włodek, D. (2001). Trzy dekady z dziejów sceny: Teatr im. J. Słowackiego w Krakowie w latach 1914–1945. Kraków.
Google Scholar
Poskuta-Włodek, D. (2012). Dzieje teatru w Krakowie w latach 1918–1939: Zawodowe teatry dramatyczne. Kraków.
Google Scholar
Poskuta-Włodek, D. (2016). Polskie teatry przesiedleńcze, uchodźcze, frontowe oraz akcje teatralne podczas I wojny światowej, kampanii polsko-bolszewickiej i plebiscytów. W: A. Jamrozek-Sowa, Z. Ożóg, & A. Wal (red.), I wojna światowa w literaturze i innych tekstach kultury: Reinterpretacje i dopełnienia. Rzeszów.
Google Scholar
Ratajczak, D. (1990). Święte legiony: Rzecz o mechanizmach sakralizacji w dramacie popularnym lat dwudziestych. W: I. Sławińska, & M. B. Stykowa (red.), Popularny dramat i teatr religijny w Polsce. Lublin.
Google Scholar
Sajewska, D. (2016). Nekroperformans: Kulturowa rekonstrukcja teatru wielkiej wojny. Warszawa.
Google Scholar
Wosiek, M. (1980). Polskie teatry wojskowe. Pamiętnik Teatralny, 1.
Google Scholar
Wójcik, W. (1978). Nadzieje i złudzenia: Legenda Piłsudskiego w polskiej literaturze międzywojennej. Katowice.
Google Scholar
Ziejka, F. (1977). W kręgu mitów polskich. Kraków.
Google Scholar
Authors
Diana Poskuta-WłodekThe Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4665-0864
Statistics
Abstract views: 323PDF downloads: 228
License
Copyright (c) 2018 Diana Poskuta-Włodek
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The author grants a royalty-free nonexclusive license (CC BY 4.0) to use the article in Pamiętnik Teatralny, retains full copyright, and agrees to identify the work as first having been published in Pamiętnik Teatralny should it be published or used again (download licence agreement). By submitting an article the author agrees to make it available under CC BY 4.0 license.
From issue 1/2018 to 3/2022 all articles were published under a Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. During this period the authors granted a royalty-free nonexclusive license (CC BY-ND 4.0) to use their article in Pamiętnik Teatralny, retained full copyright, and agreed to identify the work as first having been published in our journal should it be published or used again.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Diana Poskuta-Włodek, Tymon Terlecki’s London Papers , Pamiętnik Teatralny: Vol. 69 No. 4 (2020)
- Diana Poskuta-Włodek, The Theatrical Copy: Between Repertoire and Archive , Pamiętnik Teatralny: Vol. 65 No. 1/2 (2016)
