Lud i ludowość jako źródła grozy w literaturze romantyzmu. Próba syntezy

Folk and the Folklore as a Roots of Terror in Literature of Romanticism. An attempt of synthesis

The commonly acknowledged fact is that folklore – among the other traditions, such as the aesthetics of sublime or Gothic literature – is a fundamental root of terror in Romantic literature. Possibly, so commonly, that it is not considered justified to research this obvious issue. The purpose of the article is to fill this gap and collect all the information on this topic, which occurs unwittingly in other texts while analyzing poems or the overall orientation, in one place. However, the paper does not end up on imitative compilation. It tries not only to answer the question: where are those terrific motifs from, but also: why were they needed by writers? Why were they close to them in a spiritual way? What is most important – and which the Author attempts to justify – is the deep meaning of used means of expression. The article shows that they were used to depict very different types of anxiety – connected with sexuality, politics, and even economic and social changes.