Bycie nie na miejscu: Listy Georga Forstera z Wilna (1784–1787) jako narracja autobiograficzna

Abstract

The paper examines the letters of Georg Forster (1754–1794), a German scientist and traveler who spent three years as a professor of natural history at Vilnius University. In a rich series of letters that Forster wrote between November 1784 and August 1787, he not only discussed the issues concerning his plans and teaching experiences but also commented critically on the functioning of both the Vilnius University and the local society. On the one hand, his correspondence offers a striking reminder of how European intellectuals of the period saw themselves and the world: Forster’s great scientific and didactic ambitions were inseparable from the stereotypical perception of Poland-Lithuania as a supposedly “backward” region in terms of its social and cultural development. On the other hand, his reports from Vilnius reflect his loneliness, with this estrangement initially resulting from various difficulties that stemmed from cultural differences and conflicts, and later from a feeling of failure with related to knowledge dissemination.

Keywords

• history of science in the 18th century
• knowledge dissemination
• German scientists in Poland-Lithuania
• accounts from Vilnius
• letters of Georg Forster