„Dzicy” Witkacego – przemyślana odpowiedź na doświadczenie egzotyki?
“Savages” – a Well-conceived Response to an Experience of the Exotic?

Summary/Abstract: The essay analyses a large group of characters appearing in several dramas by Witkacy. Known as “savages (Polish: dzicy, and in the feminine form: dziczki, which already suggests a certain perversity vis à vis binding linguistic and cultural forms), they effectively shatter the image held by the so-called “civilised man” about so-called “savages”. Following closely Witkacy’s savages – starting with the drama Tumor Mózgowicz (1919-1920), Mr Price, czyli bzik tropikalny (1920) and Metafizyka dwugłowego cielęcia (1921) to the libretto to the operetta Panna Tutli-Putli (1921), the author analyses the deconstruction of elements of literature, culture and science conducted on the stage by Witkacy. She tries to demonstrate the way in which the author of the unforgettable “bloodynigger” dramatis persona – the head of the Aparura clan – tackles the civilised (scientific but also artistic) visions of “savagery”. This was a pioneering approach in relation to the postcolonial discourse, considering that it took place already in the 1920s.

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