Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz’s Portrait of America in the Age of Enlightenment

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54515/lcp.2023.1.139-148

Keywords:

Travels through America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, American Culture, American Society

Abstract

In 1788, a Polish writer and important political figure, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, made a trip to the United States where he spent several years travelling and observing American culture and society. At this time he wrote a collection of memoirs, Travels through America, which constitute a varied, illuminating, and albeit subjective image of America, its people, institutions, manners, and nature. The present study builds a ‘composite’ portrait of America through the prism of Niemcewicz’s friendship with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, his perception of females and their role in the society, as well as his images of he visited.

Author Biography

  • Dorota Górnik, The University College of Applied Sciences in Chełm (Poland)

    M.A. in English Philology and faculty member of the English and American Studies Department (The University College of Applied Sciences in Chełm, Poland).

References

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Jefferson, T. (1997). Jefferson’s Memorandum Books. Accounts, with Legal Records and Miscellany, 1767-1826, vol. 2. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Krzyżanowski, L. (1961). Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz and America. New York: University of Michigan.

Lyons, P. (2001). The Diary review. A Pole in America. www.thediaryjunction.blogspot.com, 30.01.2023.

Madison, T. (1807). To Thomas Jefferson from James Madison, 27 April 1807. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-5513, 11.02.2023.

Niemcewicz, J. (1798). To George Washington from Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, 14 June 1798. Founders Online, National Archives. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-02-02-0253, 10.02.2023.

Niemcewicz, J. (1965). Under Their Vine and Fig Tree, ed. M. Budka. Elizabeth, New Yersay: Grassman Publishing Company.

Szadkowska-Mańkowska, O. (2021). In Search of Collective Identity. The Formation of National Consciousness in Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz’s Travels Abroad. Uniwersytet Warszawski: Rocznik Komparystyczny.

Trochimczyk, M. (2015). The Impact of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz’s American Years on Spiewy Historyczne. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267529827_The_Impact_of_Julian_Ursyn_Niemcewicz%27s_American_Years_on_Spiewy_Historyczne, 07.02.2023.

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Published

2023-11-23

How to Cite

Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz’s Portrait of America in the Age of Enlightenment. (2023). Language. Culture. Politics. International Journal, 1, 139-148. https://doi.org/10.54515/lcp.2023.1.139-148