Young Poland’s floristic exoticism

Beata Kuryłowicz

Uniwersytet w Białymstoku

Abstract

The article is an attempt at a semantic description of exotic flowers’ names that are present in Young Poland’s poetic texts. The detailed analyses aim at revealing semantic connotations, including a cultural context in particular, as well as the features motivating them. The analyses show that exotic flower motifs were extremely popular during the Young Poland period. They were an integral element of this period’s poetic language and created an elaborate and coherent system of meanings determined by philosophy, worldview and emotionality characteristic of the decadent movement as well as poetic convention.