Open AccessKaaba versus ringtheater – the Holy Cross Church – Warsaw’s pogrom: two worlds and three tragedies in Modlitwa (1882) by Cyprian Norwid
Author(s) -
Bogdan Burdziej
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
studia norwidiana
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.101
H-Index - 1
eISSN - 2544-4433
pISSN - 0860-0562
DOI - 10.18290/sn.2020.38-11en
Subject(s) - prayer , secularization , plot (graphics) , art , literature , judaism , history , religious studies , philosophy , theology , statistics , mathematics
The article focuses on Modlitwa [Prayer], a short prose piece written by Cyprian Norwid towards the end of his life. The phrase “pod wrażeniem Teatru wiedeńskiego” [“under the impression of the Viennese theatre”] is read here as an indication that, despite the Arab setting, the plot and other elements of this piece draw on three tragic events directly preceding its composition in January 1882: the fire at the Ringtheater on 8 December 1881 and two events in Warsaw: the panic in the Holy Cross Church during Christmas Mass on 25 December, and the three-day-long pogrom of the Jewish community on 25–27 December. Uncovering these contexts, as suggested by Norwid, makes it possible to interpret Modlitwa as a parable which, by criticizing secularization, shows the way towards God and the fullness of prayer.