Memory and text. Pronouncing the Extermination in Michał Głowiński’s „Czarne sezony” (Black Seasons) Cover Image

Pamięć i tekst. Wypowiadanie Zagłady w Czarnych sezonach Michała Głowińskiego
Memory and text. Pronouncing the Extermination in Michał Głowiński’s „Czarne sezony” (Black Seasons)

Author(s): Janusz Waligóra
Subject(s): Jewish studies, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, History of the Holocaust
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie
Keywords: memory; text; pronouncing the extermination; Michał Głowiński;

Summary/Abstract: The article takes up the problem of critical reception of Michał Głowiński’s “Czarne sezony” as an autobiographical text which describes the experience of Extermination, taking into account readers’ attitudes, ethical obligations of a recipient of Holocaust literature, the employed research tools and reading models, but on the other hand, taking into account possible reactions of the readers to the author’s intentions and sender strategies, openly declared or inscribed in the text, which are possible to retrieve in the process of reading. Special attention is paid to the words of Henryk Grynberg, who is alone in his critical approach to Głowiński’s book, although many of his well-aimed remarks cannot be rejected. This issue is connected with the questions of what is the relation between a document and literature, where to fit the problem of appropriateness, truthfulness and authenticity of a message, or what are the consequences of selecting a particular text organization pattern, that is the narrative, stylistic and compositional solutions. Accepting the inefficiency of the opposition “document-literature” with reference to “Czarne sezony”, the author points to the limitations of the autotelic and metanarrative model of memories, chosen by Głowiński.

  • Issue Year: 2009
  • Issue No: 9
  • Page Range: 156-165
  • Page Count: 10
  • Language: Polish