Folk Influences and Origins of 19th-century Improvisational Poetry: A Study of the Oral Works of Adam Mickiewicz and Jadwiga Łuszczewska

Abstract

Improvisation is a form of oral creativity that became popular in the nineteenth century, especially during the Romantic period, called the “Slavic Renaissance”. It is defined as “the spontaneous creation of a work on a topic assigned by the audience”. It can be regarded as salon entertainment as well as an activity of a performative or even causative nature. The most renowned Polish improvisers were Adam Mickiewicz and Jadwiga Łuszczewska (Deotyma). They referred to the folk intangible culture, reflecting the Romantic fascination with rural life. However, the references to folk oral creativity made by these poets differed because the Romantic bard was brought up in the countryside and knew refrains, songs, legends, and so on. Deotyma, by contrast, during the period when she improvised, lived in Warsaw and performed in her parents’ salon, Nina and Wacław Łuszczewski. The artist, therefore, had no direct contact with the countryside and folk creativity but only an indirect one, mediated through the works of writers and painters from her circle, habitual visitors to the salon. In this article, I explain the reasons for and manifestations of the interest in folkness and folklore in Romanticism. I also analyse the preserved fragments of the improvisations for features that coincide with oral creativity and the folk culture. Based on this analysis, one can speak of a folk provenance of A. Mickiewicz’s artistic activity, whereas in Deotyma’s case, only of certain influences and references.