Kozak w Ogniem i mieczem – portret zbiorowy

Abstract

[Cossack in With Fire and Sword - a collective portrait]

H. Sienkiewicz’s novels that aimed to pluck up the national spirit provide a rich source for research on national stereotypes and their role in national self-definition of the Poles. Hetero-stereotypicality of Cossacks in With Fire and Sword is a cultural artefact of that community which was re-defined by the author in the novel. The ideological level of the work and the choice of artistic devices which constitute the profile of a collective hero define the subjective aspect of the stereotypical ideas. This aspect is a reflection of the Poles’ collective competencies manifesting themselves in a historically-shaped community of perceiving oneself and others. The final characteristic of the Cossacks is thus a consequence of the contextual dependency between the autostereotype of a Pole and a hetero-stereotype of a Ukrainian. It assumes a search for similarities and differences, whose literary exemplification can be found in the novel, between the former and the latter.