Gawęda szlachecka

[3] The Dictionary of Polish Language by PWN defines gawęda szlachecka as "a story in verse or prose demonstrating an image of Sarmatian traditions".

[4] Developed in the first half of the 19th century, Henryk Rzewuski being the most influential figure in this respect, with his Pamiątki Soplicy [pl] (The Memoirs of Soplica).

Due to the association with Sarmatism the style was also known as "pogadanka kontuszowa" ("kontusz tale"), with kontush being a distinctive Sarmatian-style garment of Polish nobility.

In particular, it impressed Adam Mickiewicz so that he created his own szlachta story, Pan Tadeusz, in which the main character belongs to the fictional Soplica family, the name borrowed from Rzewuski .

[6] A 19th century Polish writer Kazimierz Władysław Wóycicki [pl] gave the following description of gawęda: In it there was something to learn, something to listen to, whether in a szlachcic's manor or in a lord's castle.