LUDVIG HOLBERG ON THE DANISH PARISIAN, INTELLIGENT LADIES AND THEATRE (Ludvig Holberg o paryzaninie dunskim, inteligentnych bialoglowach i teatrze)

The paper presents a comedy titled Jean de France, written by an eighteenth-century Dano-Norwegian author, Ludvig Holberg. The title character is a kind of coxcomb and has been used by the playwright to metaphorise the cultural tension between the universalism of contemporary Europe and the local and indigenous people and customs. The article also refers to a Polish comedy inspired by Holberg's Jean de France, that is to Paryzanin polski (The Polish Parisian) which comes from the oeuvre of Franciszek Bohomolec. In contrast to the Polish three-act didactic play, the piece by the Dano-Norwegian writer is notable for an interestingly portrayed female character and a well-developed metatheatrical motif. The Holbergian comedy envisages theatre as a space (and institution) which, by filtering people's behaviour through the medium of the stage, exposes their artificiality, or 'theatricality'.