The Bishop Challenged by a Chef: Some Remarks on Civic Dignity

Magdalena PIEKARA

Instytut Polonistyki, Wydział Humanistyczny, Uniwersytet Śląski, ul. Uniwersytecka 4, 40-045 Katowice, Poland , Poland

Abstract

The present considerations on civic dignity as conceived by Emmanuel Lévinas are inspired by a frequently quoted anecdote (describing an event which never took place), originally described by Zofia Kossak-Szczucka in her novel Dziedzictwo [Inheritance], based on 19th century records. The dynamics underlying the social behaviors immediately before the January Uprising of 1863 resulted not only from the public protests against the Russian occupation and the emotions they involved, but also from the existing divisions in the society regarding the resistance against the Russian authorities. At the time when most European societies debated the modern concept of nation (discussed in the paper in the context of Ernst Renan’s writings, extensively commented on by Eric Hobsbawm), the Poles focused on the shape of preferred behaviors and attitudes: a departure from the socially preferred norms would be considered as a denial of the commitment to or a betrayal of the community.

Translated by Dorota Chabrajska

Keywords:

Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński, Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa, dignity, nation, community