Pyrrhic victories and fortuitous defeats. Notes on the Ferments of Władysław Stanisław Reymont

Abstract

The Comedienne and the Ferments are seen as a dylogy. In this text, however, its second part is considered as a autonomous work, and the mechanics of the failures and successes that the characters experience are brought to the fore. The perception of Ferments as a narrative of Janka Orłowska’s failure undoubtedly also resulted from the historical and social contexts of the era, clearly visible in the critical reception of the novel. Starting from a recapitulation and diagnosis of Orłowska’s failures, the authoress shows how they become less unambiguous, provide paradoxical benefits, while at the same time, in the cases of other characters, what can be interpreted as success (on the example of Andrzej Grzesikiewicz and his sister, Józefa) is paid for with great effort, a double effort (also in terms of identity), the necessity to betray one’s own social class. Because of the later motif, Ferments can also be read as a realistic account of the mechanisms of social advancement, which brings the novel into the discussion of the folk turn in contemporary humanities.