Głos Kasandry. Prognostyczne wizje wojny ("Przyszła wojna" Władysława Sikorskiego i "Dwa końce świata" Antoniego Słonimskiego)

Abstract

The article formulates predictions as a rational variant of prophetism in the literature and journalism of the interwar period. The motif of the unheard Cassandra is a metaphor for the impossibility of warnings and predictions of impending war to intervene in the course of history to avert future catastrophe. This motif was derived from the essays of Czeslaw Milosz and Jerzy Stempowski and applied to the understanding of prognostication in the 1930s. The projected visions of the war in the historical‑political books of Bocheński, Studnicki, Cat Mackiewicz were discussed. A parallel reading of The Future War by Sikorski and The Two Ends of the World by Słonimski was made in the context of his anti‑fascist and anti‑totalitarian journalism.