Traces in the pavement: The perception of London and Paris in The Fragmentary Diary and the correspondence of Władysław Stanisław Reymont

Abstract

The article analyzes the way Władysław Stanisław Reymont perceived London and Paris during his trips in the years 1894–1903 based on selected fragments from his diaries and correspondence. The author shows that the writer’s reception of both cities was ambivalent – on the one hand, they were fascinated by their size, cultural richness, and monuments, while on the other hand, they were overwhelmed by the noise, crowds, gloomy architecture, and a sense of alienation. Reymont, raised in the countryside and aware of his lack of social skills, often felt alienated in metropolises, which influenced his emotional and changeable assessments of the places he visited. Both in London and Paris, he exhibited the characteristics of a flâneur – a wanderer who absorbs the city through his senses, noting details of architecture, landscapes, and the behavior of the inhabitants. Both cities, depending on many factors, alternately became myths of uniqueness for the visitor, as well as symbols of moral chaos and disappointment, and their perception reflected the writer’s unstable inner world.