Norwid and Romantic Attempts to Renew Religious Language

Abstract

What sets off Norwid's efforts to “re-create Christian discourse” from similar attempts made by his contemporaries – Romantic poets and philosophers – are, it appears, first and foremost the following features: he is more explicit than others in referring his observations on language to theology, he consistently interprets the religious meaning of linguistic expressions in the light of Church teaching, and he lays more emphasis on the theological content of liturgical formulae. Comparative analyses so far have been restricted to paronomasias and neologisms. Yet it seems that other elements of Norwid's style also confirm these observations. What is most striking is the poet's care for the orthodoxy and theological depth of his language