Rola wypowiedzi metajęzykowych w kreowaniu świata przedstawionego w Krzyżakach Henryka Sienkiewicza

Abstract

The authors have recognized that to create the novel’s characters, both individual and collective, Henryk Sienkiewicz willingly uses the metalinguistic statements. The analysis included nearly 50 metalinguistic statements present both in the narrative part and in the dialogs. In the center of those statements there are lexemes speech, word, language. The authors searched for the answers to two fundamental questions in what way the metalinguistic remarks:1) create the reliable, medieval reality presented in the The Knights of the Cross?2) remarks update the novel’s problems?Using the metalinguistic notes to create the historical reality of the novel was the deliberate and effective action. Thanks to it Sienkiewicz illustrates the ethnic diversity of medieval Poland inhabitants, he also shows the difficulty in communication between representatives of different nations. Thanks to metalinguistic remarks the author of a novel indicates the role of the Latin language in the former custom; he also shows the language specificity of the different society layers. Metalinguistic comments reveal the parallels between the fictional reality of the novel and the reality of the times in which Henryk Sienkiewicz lived and worked. In metalinguistic notes the clearly negative evaluation of the German language and its users is shown. The linguistic situation in the State of the Teutonic Knights, which is shown in the novel, indicates similarities to situation under Prussian rule in the nineteenth century.