O hiszpańskości Wiktora Hugo (1802-1885): kilka refleksji

Abstract

ON THE SPANISHNESS OF VICTOR HUGO (1802-1885): SOME REFLECTIONS

In the literary world of Victor Hugo’s imagination, Spain served as a melting pot, continuously providing nourishment for both his personal mythology and creative endeavors. As a child, Hugo spent approximately a year in Spain and found the country to be fascinating “beyond the Pyrenees.” Historically and geographically close, yet different and almost exotic, Spain became a powerful and seductive source of inspiration for the artist’s imagination. In subsequent collections of poetry, dialogues, monologues, and novels, Spain is present as a word, sound, image, a place of dramatic action, or literary fiction. The frequent anthropomorphization and personification of Spain in Hugo’s works create the impression of a beloved, close, yet lost, living person. This article examines the dynamics of this fascination, which is ever-present in Hugo’s works, and how it was modified by tragic events in the writer’s life.