The Sky of Stanisław Władysław Reymont. Reflections after reading Chłopi

Abstract

Władysław Stanisław Reymont was an artist who distinguished himself with a special gift of observation. He was sensitive to colours, light, sounds and movement. This gave a special dimension to his writing, far from the influence of fashionable artistic trends of the era. This is particularly visible in Chłopi, which has the form of an epic. The action of the novel takes place in the rhythm of the changing seasons. Although the image of Lipiec is realistic in nature, the writer went beyond the narrow framework of naturalism and the related view of the world from the perspective of biological and social determinism. The life of the inhabitants of Lipiec takes place at the intersection of the earth and the sky. They are strongly attached to the earth, which gives meaning to their entire life. However, it turns out that its source is the sky together with the sun. Depending on the seasons, its position in the sky changes and, consequently, the intensity of light. It is this that determines existence on earth. Autumn is the time of nature dying, winter of its freezing, spring of awakening to life, and summer of slowly getting ready for sleep. But without death there is no rebirth of life. Reymont brings out the symbolic aspect of light and the colors and sounds that depend on it. The sun in the novel transfigures into a great Host. At its feet lies the earth. The sky is not empty, but it is the place of God’s presence. In this way, the world of Lipiec is sanctified, and human existence takes on ethical and religious dimensions. It turns out that the idea of a cathedral is inscribed in the structures of the peasant epic. This gives the novel a universal dimension.