“I’d rather remember.” Relation of things, memory, and identity in selected short stories by Paweł Sołtys Cover Image

„Wolałbym pamiętać”. Relacja rzeczy, pamięci i tożsamości w wybranych opowiadaniach Pawła Sołtysa
“I’d rather remember.” Relation of things, memory, and identity in selected short stories by Paweł Sołtys

Author(s): Aleksandra Zdanowicz
Subject(s): Metaphysics, Epistemology, Polish Literature
Published by: Wydział Filologiczny Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego
Keywords: autobiographical memory; identity; things; memory carriers; self-understanding; nostalgia;

Summary/Abstract: The article is an attempt to establish the relationship between things, memory, and identity building in Mikrotyki by Paweł Sołtys. Three short stories (Szlugi, Listy, and Patelnia) in which the items constitute the main plotline were selected for analysis. Detailed analysis of the texts showed that all things are strongly connected with the category of nostalgia and the work of memory, thus becoming the building blocks of the writer’s identity, but each of them has a different meaning in this process. Cigarettes are primarily an impulse that activates the memory mechanism and refers to an experience shared by a certain generation. Letters, as nostalgic things,are a memento of the past. An abandoned frying pan becomes a contribution to reflection on the relationship between people and things. Each of the described items forces the author to interpret the past in a specific way, and thus also the present.

  • Issue Year: 2021
  • Issue No: 12
  • Page Range: 171-185
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Polish