Małe tęsknoty w „małej” prozie Roberta Walsera
Small longings in the small prose works by Robert Walser

Summary/Abstract: The subject of this article is the theme of longing, its varieties and functions, in the short prose works of Robert Walser, published in Polish in the volumes Mały krajobraz ze śniegiem and Niedzielny spacer. In the light of Svetlana Boym's views, nostalgia takes two forms: restorative (longing for a lost past) and reflexive (prospective, focusing on longing as such). Robert Walser’s work is dominated by the second type of nostalgia; this theme, which is closely linked to desire, allows nostalgia to be situated in the symbolic order of space and movement; it is represented by metaphors associated with wandering, walking, stroll. Ultimately, reflexive longing rises in Walser's prose to the status of a basic existential situation and becomes one of the most essential determinants of human nature.

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