Od bliskości do obcości. Georg Brandes, Polska i kwestia żydowska

Abstract

The Danish literary critic Georg Brandes (1842-1927) played an important role in late nineteenth-century Polish culture. By giving public lectures in Warsaw, Cracow and Lviv, he championed the cause of Polish independence and inspired Polish positivists. Brandes's closeness with the Poles was shaken when he instigated a debate on the Jewish question and Polish anti-Semitism, so that his relationship with Poland gradually transformed into distance and hostility. This article examines the background, genesis and development of the conflict while also outlining research perspectives on this difficult and politically sensitive topic. De Bończa Bukowski analyses those of Brandes's most relevant views on the Polish and Jewish question-views that took shape in relation to contemporary discourses on liberal nationalism, assimilation as well as Zionism.