The multigenre voyage. Genology and genetics of the Voyage to the Holy Land from Naples (Podróż do Ziemi Świętej z Neapolu) by Juliusz Słowacki

Abstract

This paper concerns the relation between genology and genetics in the digressive romantic poem Voyage to the Holy Land from Naples (Podroż do Ziemi Świętej z Neapolu) by Juliusz Słowacki. It is perhaps one of his most underestimated works, often treated as a prelude to the popular Beniowski. Voyage to the Holy Land was created during Słowacki’s journey to the East. The whole work took several years to write, which was a time of increased artistic productivity for its author. The poem was developed in a notebook, along with numerous notes, drawings, and journey expenses written down in its margins. For this reason, the author of the article does not focus on the content of the poem, but on its form, and indicates that the chronological development of the text is strongly correlated with the numerous possibilities of interpretation encoded in the various genres that inspired the creation of the poem. For instance, he presents Słowacki’s poem as a silva rerum — a book filled with many kinds of notes and memorabilia, kept by the nobility during the Baroque Period — and a romantic travelogue. The author aims to present the most compelling genological aspects of the poem and in order to do so, he references, among others, genetic criticism, and a methodology that derives from literary anthropology and describes the physical medium which carries the text along.