About the messiah and the sarmatians, or, future Poland in Jacek Dukaj’s short story „Crux” (2003)

Abstract

The article analyses messianic and sarmatian themes in Jacek Dukaj’s Crux. The image of Poland presented in this science-fiction short story suggests a return to national traditions based on the idea of social classes. The ruling class aspires to emulate the sarmatians but the results of their at-tempts at doing so are often grotesque. Meanwhile, people who live on social benefits display a very narrow world-view, making them easy to manipulate and take advantage of. Taking into account Polish national traits, the author predicts that Poles will follow yet another messiah, thus acting out an all-too-well-known scenario of uprisings and their tragic consequences.
The main aim of the article is to describe both of the social classes portrayed by Dukaj, focus-ing on the figure of Crux, the messiah, as this is a character that occupies a special place in Dukaj’s short story.