| dc.description.abstract | Biblical motifs were used in literature differently, depending on a period, trends in
philosophy, views and formed models. For the generation of Young Poland artists, the Holy
Bible was evidence of cultural continuity of humanity, and also of its ethical foundation. The
Bible was reinterpreted, too. It became a source of religious topics, as well as their inversion
or opposition. Two trends of biblical inspirations emerged. The first one is the trend of
artistic experiments, innovative, arising from philosophical assumptions of the period. The
second trend is conservative, perceiving the Bible as a religious support for everyone. “This
first trend dominated modern, avant-garde and artistically ambitious literature, created by
the most outstanding writers of the period: Kasprowicz, Wyspiański, Staff, Roztworowski.
The second trend could be noticed in literary texts taking up religious issues in a more
traditional and popular way, mostly by second-rate artists, going in for literary ‘illustration’
of biblical themes”.
in literature. Those texts had influenced his depiction for centuries, and this image was
unambiguously negative. The image of Judas – a sinner (a red-haired traitor with hooked
chin, dressed in a yellow robe) was partly vindicated only in Modernism, whose range of
interest involved controversial individuals. The following texts can be counted among the
narrative prose of the turn of the 20th century featuring the motif of Judas: Legenda wigilijna
(1889) and Sprawiedliwie (1899) by Władysław Reymont; Przeklęty (1902) by Andrzej
Niemojewski; Zwycięzca (1910) by Jerzy Żuławski; Maria Magdalena (1912) by Gustaw
Daniłowski; Maria z Magdali (1928) by Józef Jankowski; Nawracanie Judasza (1916) by
Stefan Żeromski and Judaszowa wina (1918) by Maria Czeska-Mączyńska. Examples of lyrical
prose are: Żywot Zbawiciela Pana Naszego Jezusa Chrystusa spisany wedle Czterech Ewangelii
(1880) by Wincenty Popiel; Labirynt (1903) by Natalia Dzierżek; Zgon Judasza (1875) by
Józef Grajnert; Mistrz z Nazaretu (1905) by Kajetan Wysłouch; Judasz (1907) by Włodzimierz
Sulima Popiel, and anonymous Zdrada from 1925. Poetry works are: Judasz (1901) by Jan
Kasprowicz; Ukrzyżowanie and Ostatnia Wieczerza by Stanisław Korab Brzozowski; Judasz
(1901) by Władysław Bukowiński; Judasz (1903) by Artur Oppman; Judasz sonnets I, II
(1902) by Kornel Makuszyński; Misterium Galilei (1920) by Ludwik Hieronim Morstin;
Golgota (1922) by Antoni Waśkowski; Góra oliwna and Uwielbiam, Panie, Twe przebite ręce
by Leopold Staff. The last type of texts is represented by the following dramas: Magdalena,
czyli rozpacz i nadzieja (1861) by Krystyn Ostrowski; Jeremiasz Prorok (1892) by Michał
Żmigrodzki; Maria z Magdali (1906) by Antoni Szandlerowski; Judasz z Kariothu (1913) by
Karol Hubert Rostworowski and Judasz (1917) by Kazimierz Przerwa Tetmajer.
The attempt to find the answer to the question “what kind of human Judas was?” seems to
be the primal reason of choosing Judas as the main character in the majority of the texts.
Why did he betray? What were his motives? How was he punished? The issue of guilt and
punishment still remains the basic problem. There is a slight shift in looking at Judas, from
the damned main character to a miserable man, entangled in his own weaknesses, confronted
with the greatness of Jesus, a man that is deeply mortified at the same time, unable to bear
his own fate.
Judas is depicted in texts of Young Poland partly as a weak and tractable geezer, a cheater greedy
for money and honour, and partly as a ruthless mythomaniac without scruple, characterized
by strong and destructive personality, while in other texts this character becomes an erotic
beast, which could turn out to be a devil incarnate, too. First of all, Young Poland’s Judas is
an exponent of the period’s fears. His character provokes reflection on suffering, human free
will, human morality and responsibility for deeds, inclination to sin and relation with God.
Although Judas is still perceived as a traitor, his deed becomes an impulse to seek motives
of this wicked deed, and to reflect on ethics. Modernism might not have managed to fully
vindicate Judas, but it made him a multidimensional and tragic character.
Over the centuries, Judas, the controversial Apostle, has become a figure of irredeemable
sinner and traitor. It is highly probable that the historical Judas wouldn’t recognize himself in
his cultural image, elaborately woven for twenty centuries. | en_EN |
