The cult of Adam Mickiewicz in “Soviet paradise” (Lviv 1939–1941)

An ideologization of Mickiewicz began with the arrival of “Soviet paradise” and it was intensified with the Soviet presence in the former Kresy region. Mickiewicz’s politicization primarily served to encourage mass actions: rallies, academies, commemorative exhibitions, and jubilee celebrations. They put effort into placing Mickiewicz in the pantheon of internationalist artists, revolutionaries-democrats, heroes who fight for the freedom of the people, eulogists of Polish-Russian rapprochement. His carefully selected works were used as a propaganda discourse about the “one correct” vision of literature which confirms the strength and timelessness of socialist literature. The most popular linguistic strategy used in the official press (Czerwony Sztandar) was the strategy of apparent praise.