The Conceptual Framework of Verse Theory and its Influence on the Characterization of Polish Medieval Versification

The paper attempts to analyze the epistemological background (conceptual frameworks) to significant contemporary Polish verse theories, and to show their impact on the characterization of the oldest (medieval) Polish poetry. The author holds the opinion that Polish medieval verse is difficult to define, because there are only a few original sources available and we are far removed from the epoch in which they were created; thus this is a conceptual construct resulting not so much from the interpretation of the texts as from pre-interpretative research assumptions (open and hidden) that determine the cognitive judgments of the theoreticians.