Polish Positivism was a social, literary and

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

movement that became dominant in late-19th-century

partitioned Poland Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of ...

following the suppression of the January 1863 Uprising against the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

. The Positivist period lasted until the turn of the 20th century and the advent of the modernist Young Poland movement.

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz (, also , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. Regarded as one of the great poets of the 20th century, he won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature. In its citation, ...

''The History of Polish Literature'', pp. 281–321.
"Positivism." ''

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facul ...

'', 1983. . Retrieved October 10, 2011.

Overview

In the aftermath of the 1863 Uprising, many thoughtful Poles argued against further attempts to regain independence from the partitioning powers – the

, the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

, and the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

– by force of arms. In their polemics over forms of resistance, published between 1868 and 1873 in ''Przegląd tygodniowy'' (The Weekly Review) and ''Prawda'' (Truth), they – often reluctantly and only partially – discarded the literary stylistics of the earlier Polish Romantic period. While Polish Positivism took the name "

Positivism Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. G ...

" from the writings of French philosopher

Auguste Comte Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte (; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense ...

, much of its ideology was actually inspired by British scholars and scientists, including

Herbert Spencer Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher, psychologist, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist famous for his hypothesis of social Darwinism. Spencer originated the expression " survival of the f ...

and

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...

. The Polish Positivists advocated the exercise of reason before emotion. They believed that independence, if it was to be regained, must be won gradually, by "building from the foundations" (by creating a material infrastructure and educating the populace), and through "

organic work Organic work ( pl, praca organiczna) was a phrase adopted from Herbert Spencer by 19th-century Polish Positivists to denote the concept that the nation's vital powers should be devoted to labour ("work from the foundations"), rather than to fruitle ...

" that would enable Polish society to function as a fully integrated " social organism" (a concept borrowed from a number of European thinkers, including Herbert Spencer).

Objectives

A leading Polish philosopher of the period, the journalist, short-story writer, and novelist Bolesław Prus (author of the novels '' The Outpost'', '' The Doll'', ''

The New Woman ''The New Woman'' ( pl, Emancypantki) is the third of four major novels by the Polish writer Bolesław Prus. It was composed, and appeared in newspaper serialization, in 1890-93, and dealt with societal questions involving feminism. History ''T ...

'', and ''

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until th ...

'', and of the prescient 1873 study, '' On Discoveries and Inventions''), advised his compatriots that Poland's place in the world would be determined by her contributions to the world's scientific, technological, economic, and cultural advances. Societal concerns addressed by the Polish Positivists included the securing of equal rights for all members of society, including peasants and

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

; the

assimilation Assimilation may refer to: Culture * Cultural assimilation, the process whereby a minority group gradually adapts to the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture and customs ** Language shift, also known as language assimilation, the prog ...

of Poland's Jewish minority; the elimination of illiteracy resulting from closure of Polish schools by the partitioning powers; and defense of the Polish population in German-ruled Poland against Germany's ''

Kulturkampf (, 'culture struggle') was the conflict that took place from 1872 to 1878 between the Catholic Church in Germany, Catholic Church led by Pope Pius IX and the government of Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia led by Otto von Bismarck. The main issues wer ...

'' and displacing of Poles with German settlers.

Zygmunt Szweykowski Zygmunt Szweykowski (7 April 1894 in Krośniewice – 11 February 1978 in Poznań) was a historian of Polish literature who specialized in 19th-century Polish prose. Life In 1932-39, Szweykowski held a professorship at the Free Polish University ...

, ''Twórczość Bolesława Prusa'' (The Art of Bolesław Prus), 2nd ed., Warsaw, ''Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy'', 1972, pp. 130–51. The Polish Positivists viewed work, rather than uprisings, as the true path to preserving Polish

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

and affirming a constructive

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

. Aleksander Świętochowski, editor of ''Prawda'', held that "All the great problems

biding Biding (; german: Biedingen) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Population See also * Communes of the Moselle department The following is a list of the 725 communes of the Moselle department of Fra ...

in the osomof mankind can be solved by education alone, and this education must be compulsory."

, ''The History of Polish Literature'', pp. 285–286.

Leading authors

Notes

References

, ''The History of Polish Literature'', 2nd edition, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1983, , pp. 281–321. *Edward Pieścikowski, ''Bolesław Prus'', 2nd edition, Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1985, . *Jan Zygmunt Jakubowski, ed., ''Literatura polska od średniowiecza do pozytywizmu'' (Polish Literature from the Middle Ages to Positivism), Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1979, , pp. 543–692. {{DEFAULTSORT:Positivism In Poland Cultural history of Poland Polish literature Polish nationalism (1795–1918) Positivism pl:Literatura polska - pozytywizm