Gawęda
A gawęda is a story; especially, one that belongs to a kind of Polish epic literary genre.History
Gawęda is a genre of Polish folk literature.
The term also describes a literary work, stylized as an oral tale, characterized by freedom of composition, rich in digressions, and written in language close to colloquial language, that presented a picture of Sarmatian szlachta manners and morals.
During the Romantic period, in the first half of the 19th century, the genre developed as the "szlachta gawęda". It told of the lives and manners of the nobility, affirming the Sarmatian world of values. The leading author in this genre was Henryk Rzewuski. Other authors in this line included K. Gaszyński, Władysław Syrokomla, Wincenty Pol, A. Gorczyński, K.W. Wójcicki, and Ignacy Chodźko.
Gawęda elements may be found in works by Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki, and in Henryk Sienkiewicz's Trilogy. The szlachta gawęda played a great role in the development of the Polish historical novel.
A twentieth-century practitioner of gawęda was Melchior Wańkowicz.
