A History of Miłosz’s “Whirlwind Love Affair” with Mickiewicz in the Context of Harold Bloom’s Theory Cover Image

Dzieje „burzliwego romansu” Miłosza z Mickiewiczem w kontekście teorii wpływu Harolda Blooma
A History of Miłosz’s “Whirlwind Love Affair” with Mickiewicz in the Context of Harold Bloom’s Theory

Author(s): Patrycja Bućko-Żmuda
Subject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: Instytut Badań Literackich Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Czesław Miłosz; Adam Mickiewicz; Harold Bloom's theory of poetry; Harold Bloom's The Anxiety of Influence

Summary/Abstract: The article is an attempt to interprete Czesław Miłosz’s rich literary creativity in the context of romantic tradition, especially Adam Mickiewicz’s literary heritage. The methodological tool which allows to analyse Miłosz’s ambivalent attitude to Mickiewicz is Harold Bloom’s theory of poetry which relies on the struggle of a “born late” poet against powerful percursor poets. Discussing “agon ephebe” in one of his most famous book “The Anxiety of Influence”, Bloom presents six revisional stages in which a “strong poet” tries to free himself from the influence of the “Father-poet,” and to use him to sanction his own autonomy and original position. Numerous biographical iterations and literary similarities between the two poets in question started a turmulous relationship resulting in pathetic polemics which exemplifies Bloom’s theory.

  • Issue Year: 2010
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 35-54
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Polish
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