Z karpackiej podróży Łucji Rautenstrauchowej. Próba lektury

Abstract

From Łucja Rautenstrauch’s Carpathians journey. An attempt at reading

The aim of the article is to bring back from obscurity a virtually forgotten Polish author, Łucja Rautenstrauch née Giedroyć 1798–1886 and her virtually unknown work — Miasta, góry i doliny [Towns, Mountains and Valleys] 1844. The author focuses on a fragment of the work, namely the writer’s reminiscences from the trip to the Carpathians in 1839. Rautenstrauch sentimentally described the places she visited Szczawnica health resort, Czerwony Klasztor [Red Monastery], Niedzica and Czorsztyn castles, Morskie Oko [Sea Eye] Lake, Czarny Staw [Black Pond], Kościelisko Valley, Dunajec River, people living in the Tatras and the Pieniny mountain range shepherds and highlanders, “the famous women of the village of Biały Dunajec” as well as the difficulties of mountain trekking. The article is complemented by two accounts from Morskie Oko by Maria Steczkowska and Jadwiga Łuszczewska Deotyma, shown as examples of a new interpretation perspective — looking at romantic travel writing from the perspective of women.