...Traditionally, Galicia, the largest Austrian province, (2) played special role in constructing Polish identity and culture in the nineteenth century. Its citizens created their own kind of Polishness and became the dominant "imagined community" (3) for Polish culture well into the twentieth century. Compared to the Polish regions ceded to Prussia and Russia, Galicia became for many Poles a mythical land of relative independence, where "old" Polish social structures were maintained along with Polish habits, and where progressive and revolutionary thoughts were born and ripened. This relatively autonomous province became the hope and center of Polish cultural and political life, defined as a western nation without a country--a state of mind within Austro-Hungary rather than a political entity. Historically and traditionally, this was a Polish center of conspiracy, revolution, stubbornness, political debacles, and memories of the glorious past of Poland.

Significantly, Galicia existed not only in the minds of Poles and political discussions of the time, but also in various literary representations reflecting the existence of the Polish nation-without-a-state. This essay will treat two texts by Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) acknowledging this Galician Poland, "Jakob Szela" (4) and "Der Kreisphysikus" (1883). (5) The goal of this analysis will be to argue that Ebner-Eschenbach, although a Germanophone author living in Austria, clearly presents a picture of Galicia's strengths and weaknesses as they appear in Polish literary tradition, despite her opposite ethnic identity and varying politics.

To support my argument, I will analyze how her texts reflect the world of 1846 in Galicia in terms of representations of class positions, ethnicity, and religion within the Galician community. Revising images of Galicia provided by Ebner-Eschenbach will suggest that, in this region, all ethnic, religious and national differences at least possibly coexisted in harmony, and that the Galician myth, as we shall see in the conclusion of the discussion, created in the nineteenth century is alive in Polish social and cultural life. (6)

Interestingly, through numerous literary critiques and analysis of her work, Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach is known as the aristocratic female Austrian writer who struggled for perfection in her art and tried to overcome obstacles in the form of family prejudices, social conventions, and illness in her later years. She is also known for her devotion to social issues and for her "humanist message, liberal leanings, her political and personal embracing of a moderate and humane socialism," as stressed by Carl Steiner. (7) In my case, I will stress her thorough knowledge of the Galician political situation and historical background.

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach was a descendant of an old Austrian, not "paper," (8) aristocratic family, born in Moravia, another Austrian border region of small border villages and multiethnic populations. Two of Ebner-Eschenbach's stories, "Der Kreisphysikus" (The District Physician) and "Jakob Szela," which initially appeared in the collection Dorf- und Schlossgeschichten (Tales from Village and Castle, 1883), concentrate on the events of 1846 in Galicia--the failed Polish revolt against the Austrian government of the district and the peasants' uprising against Polish landowners, the so-called Jacquerie. Interestingly, each time she portrays the Galician reality of 1846, Ebner-Eschenbach presents the historical events and social issues in a novel and true light by using her licentia poetica.

Although Ingrid Aichinger claims that "Zeitkritik ist ... im Prosawerk der Ebner nicht primar fassbar in der direkten Aufnahme konkreter geschichtlichen Fakten" [Zeitkritik in Ebner's prose is ... not primarily in the direct depiction of concrete historical facts], (9) in both of the stories discussed here, Ebner-Eschenbach proves her knowledge of both Galician and Polish history as well as the social interactions and problems within this local society. Significantly, both stories, "Jakob Szela" and "Kreisphysikus," do not belong to the canonical repertoire of Ebner-Eschenbach's works, as their mutual main subject (social injustice and human rights) is tidily connected with the question of Poland's/Galicia's future within the Habsburg Empire, a topic not widely discussed in the context of her literary production. Therefore, not only Germanophone but also Polish literary critics, such as Klanska or Palej, turn to these texts to find out Ebner-Eschenbach's position on Galicia and, in general, on the issue of the Habsburg Vielvolkerstaat. (10)

It is thus clear that Ebner-Eschenbach's political engagement cannot be doubted; in her own words: "Nicht teilnehmen an dem geisdgen Fortschreiten seiner Zeit, heisst moralisch im Ruckschritt zu sein" [To not take part in the current spiritual developments means to be morally backwards]. (11)

"Der Kreisphysikus" is a story of Galician village life, told from the perspective of the local physician, Doctor Nathanael Rosenzweig, from the time of the outbreak of the uprising to the end of the Jacquerie and its outcome. Interestingly, the narration is set up as not particularly colored by Rosenzweig's origin: although a half-Jew, he is first of all a loyal state employee, then a doctor, and finally a Jew. Rosenzweig's character thus represents a certain paradox in the village, yet his position stands in a clear, positive relation to others: for the peasantry, he is "reasonable Mister Doctor" ("Kreisphysikus" 46); the aristocrats call him an "incomparable physician" (52); local authorities trust him with both their secret missions and their health; and for other Jews, he is "Gibor" [the giant] (117). Thus, his figure is surrounded not by anti-Semitic hatred but rather by respect and acceptance. Significantly, in Galicia, where more than ten percent of the population was of Jewish origin, anti-Semitism became a violent force among nationalists and Polish educators, who saw in Jews "foreigners" and the "others." However, in the preemancipation era, (12) that is, before 1848 when the peasants received freedom of rights and independence, many "sources reflect an attitude of limited trust and interdependency between Christian and Jewish villagers, a relationship that began to erode in the aftermath of emancipation and the onset of peasant capitalism. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Jewish tavern keeper was reportedly a respected figure.... The very same villager who looked with suspicion on the lord found a trust in his relations with the Jew." (13)

Through his specific position in the village as a respected professional, Rosenzweig is allowed a look inside all of the social groups represented in the story; that is, into the whole of rural Galician society. And his vision becomes the perspective of the readers, who are called to balance his insights against his own multiple identifies.

Ebner-Eschenbach tells her story by having this physician survey Galician society. The first group with whom he...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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