Polesie Impressions in Polish and Russian Literature

Abstract

In the present article literary images of Polesie from the middle of the 19th century to present times are analysed. The most common elements related to Polesie, such as local fauna and flora, ship transport, customs, legends, folk beliefs, traces of history, the problem of the 'exogenous-indigenous' relation or the question of national identity, etc. are indicated on the basis of selected works of both Polish (J.I. Kraszewski, J. Nowakowski, J. Mackiewicz, F. Wysłouch, M. Szejnert) and Russian (I. Turgenev, V. Korolenko, I. Bunin, J. Drunina, G. Koroleva) authors representing fiction and nonfiction.