Nationalist, Pacifist, Messianist? The Image of War in Eugeniusz Małaczewski’s Works

Abstract

The article concerns the work of Eugeniusz Małaczewski, in particular, it focuses on the image of war that the writer presented in his prose, lyric poetry, and journalism. The article presents a polemical position towards the established line of interpretation of Małaczewski’s work, which clearly emphasized elements indicating the writer’s unequivocal positive attitude towards wars. This text outlines Małaczewski’s position on pacifism, nationalism and messianism and indicates those elements in the writer’s work that demythologize the image of armed conflicts. For this purpose, the category of imaginarium understood as figures of collectively experienced drama, in which every experience is inscribed, was used. The article also addresses the issue of combining the glorification of suffering and heroism with antimilitarism, or even pacifism, in Małaczewski’s work. It has been noted that the pacifist potential of Małaczewski’s prose is found in three areas: overt anti-war declarations, descriptions maintained in an expressionist convention, and scenes that disrupt the military-national discourse. The complexities signaled have not been developed so far, and the writer’s complicated attitude to war has not been adequately discussed. The author of the article emphasizes that the unconditional inclusion of Małaczewski in the group of
writers who heroize and glorify war is an action that obscures the multifaceted nature of his work.