OBLICZA SIEDMIOGRODU KAZIMIERY IŁŁAKOWICZÓWNY ALBO TOPOGRAFIA KONTRADYKCYJNA
FACES OF TRANSYLVANIA IN KAZIMIERA IŁŁAKOWICZÓWNA’S WORK, OR TOPOGRAPHY OF CONTRADICTION

Summary/Abstract: In Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna’s work, largely inspired by numerous journeys and movements, an important role is played by topographic imagination and emphasis on various connections with specific places. The poet's eight-year-long stay in Transylvania during World War II and her works connected with this land aptly illustrate her unique perception of space, which also applies to Iłła- kowiczówna’s other works. Place is seen here as a reality of contradictions: between the foreignness of exile and the longing for the home country, between ignoring the new reality and attempts to take root, between the Hungarian and Romanian elements of Transylvanian culture, between its peri- pherality within the Hungarian culture and the central position of Budapest, between the North and the South. These contradictions govern the perception of places, organize place and space, and allow us to talk about five necessary elements that make up the image of the adversarial topography present in her work. This topography is a form of mediation in the process of getting to know the world; the poet confronts it with the metaphysical dimension of experience.

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