Contiguity and fluidity – expressions of neighbourhood relations in Kraszewski’s and Stempowski’s written records of the land of the Dniestr River

Abstract

The focus of the article is the analysis of the literary expressions of neighbourhood affinities in the Dniestr River basin featured in Wspomnienia Odessy, Jedysanu i Budżaku. Dziennik przejażdżki w roku 1843 od 22 czerwca do 11 września (1845–1846) by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski and in Jerzy Stempowski’s essay W dolinie Dniestru (1941). The center of attention was captured by the myriad forms of contiguity seen in the topography of the banks of the Dniestr River – namely, the middle course in a sketch by Hostowiec and the lower one, surrounded by a liman, in Kraszewski’s diary. The midsection of the article deals with the fluidity of languages used by representatives of the various ethnic groups and social strata living on both banks of the Dniestr, as well as the multiplicity of religious denominations. The third contention bears on both writers’ attempts to overturn the dominance of history drawing on both writers’ strong tendency to exploit the motif of ruin. Neighbourhood relations set aglow both a nineteenth- and twentieth-century writer. Both writers also achieve an effect of contiguity and fluidity within the composition and style of their respective works.