Travels of the “Indians”. Literary Representations of Scout Expeditions (Example by Roman Pollak)

Abstract

This article examines a hitherto unexplored segment of travel literature that developed in Polish literature during the first decades of the 20th century, concurrently with the introduction of scouting to the Polish lands. This period saw the emergence of accounts from regional sightseeing excursions “across the homeland” (po swojszczyźnie), which served as an element of physical and patriotic education. These works took the form of manuscripts, press reports, and published books that can be classified as travel writing. The features of these texts are illustrated through a case study of Roman Pollak’s book, Wyprawa skautów śląskich przez Orawę i Tatry na Spisz [The Expedition of Silesian Scouts through Orava and the Tatras to Spisz]. It presents an expedition undertaken from the perspective of an inhabitant of Cieszyn Silesia, bearing the characteristics of “scouting utility” (harcerska użyteczność). At the same time, the work is deeply rooted in the travel writing tradition of Romanticism, with its characteristic fascination with the Tatra Mountains (a theme echoed by the Young Poland movement), its anthropomorphization of nature, an ethnographic inclination, and a significant identity-focused aspect.