Not Much Has Been Written about the Mountains… On the Subject of Mountain Studies

To a certain extent, however, it is a continuation of scientific and scholarly thinking about mountains, the tradition of which dates back to the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries [2]. In Poland, mountain studiesare present, among others, through the Mountain Series of the Universitas publishing house. On the covers of successive volumes published in this series, mountain studiesare characterised as research conducted “primarily from an ecological perspective,” testifying to “the importance of mountains, seen as natural and cultural enclaves, in terms of the development and survival of modern civilisation” (Kolbuszewski 2019a: back flap)[3]. It is also noted that there is now “a clear need to expand this perspective to include an indepth reflection from the broadlyunderstood humanities and related fields,” as the history of cognition, exploration and conquest of mountains is “a very important part of the history of civilisation and culture” (Kolbuszewski 2019a: back flap). The new approach is more holistic than the previous ones and distinguished by transdisciplinarity, a particular sensitivity to ecological and environmental issues combined with an interest in the human dimension of mountains and the arts related to mountain landscapes (Sarmiento n.d. [online]).

In the thus outlined framework of mountain studies, literature and literary studies can play a pivotal role. The problem, however, turns out to be merely specifying the object of mountain studiesliteratureresearch. There is no doubt that it is literary works, but how to define and name them is far from obvious. The term “mountain literature,” which immediately comes to mind, is one of the “disputed problems” in Polish literary studies [4]. Researchers have been discussing the validity of distinguishing this type of literature for years, and various definitions have been accepted.

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[2] The impetus for mountain exploration came with the first ascents of the highest peaks of the Alps (of Mont Blanc in 1786 and of the Matterhorn in 1865). In world science, the work of Alexander von Humboldt was pioneering. In Polish research, Stanisław Staszic’s work O ziemiorództwie Karpatów i innych gór i równin Polski [On the Terrogenesis of the Carpathians and Other Mountains and Plains of Poland](1815) and the Romantic theory of regional schools, to which reference was made in discussions about the Podhale/Tatra school in literature, played an important role. The scientific mountain activities intensified in the second half of the 20th century, and have now assumed particular importance in connection with the development of environmental humanities.

[3] The characteristics of mountain studieswere repeatedly discussed in subsequent volumes of the series Od Kaukazu po Sudety. Studia i szkice o poznawaniu i zamieszkiwaniu gór dalekich i bliskich [From the Caucasus to the Sudetes. Studies and Sketches on Exploring and Inhabiting Distant and Near Mountains], and also inPigon (2022) and Ngyuen (2022).

[4] I refer here to a number of published literary studies/monographies in which, however, mountain literature issues were not addressed. See, among others: Sporne i bezsporne problemy współczesnej wiedzy o literaturze polskiej [Disputable and Indisputable Problems of Contemporary Knowledge of Polish Literature]; Sporne sprawy polskiej literatury współczesnej [Disputable Problems of Polish Contemporary Literature].