Vilnius and Polock. Two centers of Polish culture on the threshold of the 19th century

Abstract

At the beginning of 19th century Vilnius and Polock were the only towns on the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania in which Polish publications, newspapers, theatres and high schools existed. Enlightenment ideas and liberal trends played an important part in the Vilnius community. On the contrary, ideological climate in Polock was created by Jesuits – the order dissolved by the Pope, but existing in the Russian territory. The Author indicates the differences between these two communities and also draws attention to Lithuanian poems written in Vilnius by Antanas Strazdas and Byelorussian poems written there in the Philomaths community by Jan Czeczot. He also considers how big was the influence of Polock environment on the literary activities and attitude of Jan Barszczewski, a student of Polock college and future leading representative of Polish-Byelorussian literary borderland.

Keywords

• Vilnius
• Polock
• Enlightenment
• Jesuits
• Byelorussian folklore