Chiny a polskie podniebienie ‒ reprezentacje chińskich kulinariów w polskich tekstach podróżopisarskich

Abstract

The main topic of the paper is exoticism and familiarization of China through descriptions of Chinese cuisine. The primary focus of the paper is the literary works of following Polish authors: Konstanty Symonolewicz, Witold Urbanowicz, Kamil Giżycki and Władysław Michał Zaleski. They visited China at the end of the 19th century (Zaleski) and at the beginning of the 20th century (Symonolewicz, Giżycki, Urbanowicz). Topic of food and eating habits is treated as a one of the ways of creating the otherness or familiarizing it. Remarks about Chinese food made by Zaleski and Giżycki emphasized strangeness of Chinese culture. However, descriptions of food and eating habits were not only a way to create the image of China as an exotic land. E.g. Symonolewicz tries to dispel myths about strange customs of the Chinese through the detailed description of a traditional Chinese dinner. Urbanowicz compares Chinese and American eating habits, introducing a principle of relativism.