“The Sacred” and “Spirituality” in Polish Literary Research
“The Sacred” and “Spirituality” in Polish Literary Research

Summary/Abstract: The article was devoted to the methodology of research on the re-lationship between literature-religion. Its aim is a critical reflection on the use of the category of ‘the sacred’ in the research. In Poland, in 70. of the last century, ‘the sacred’ has become the vital category for reflections on the religious aspects of literature (eliminating such terms as ‘catholic literature’ and ‘religious literature’). The historiographical method is used in the article. The author presents the steps of the presence of the category ‘the sacred’ in the humanities, especially in the Polish literature studies. The main results of the analysis: sacrological research had pre-pared us to meet study of literature and cultural studies. Many factors point to the fact that sacral research was one of the first attempts to build a bond between literary and cultural studies. The term ‘the sacred’ did not have classification or typological aim (such function was sometimes assigned to ‘religious literature’ term). Its wide range allowed activities that led to identification of the religious profile of the literary work. Its primary context was not any ideology or religious doctrine, but cultural anthropology, so it demanded culture studies competence more than being involved in world outlook. The wide range of the notion – completely natural and desirable in the anthropology of culture – did not have to be something obvious in the research of separate literary works, at times evoking the image of the world strictly connected with particular religion, or even particular worship. The answer to this was Stefan Sawicki’s offer to replace ‘the sacred’ category when analysing such works with other terms. Organizational measures undertaken by the founder of Lublin school of sacral research were soon verified by the reality of academic discussion – subject, as each discussion, to the rules of terminology fashion. ‘The sacred’ became fashionable term for some time – used and overused, perhaps. It became the keyword to open all possible references to religious sphere in literary works. It was applied not only where the layer of religious meaning remained generalized in the text, but also in those which were distinctly involved in the symbolic world of a specific religion. There were of course attempts to introduce new notion where the context demanded it. Taken in the article analyzes the concept of the sacred in literary studies have been limited mainly to the area of Polish literary criticism. The text encourages further research. It has practical significance. It explains the methods, can serve students and other readers (such as teachers or students) to acquire the skills to interpret literary texts. The author is not only critically discusses the use of the sacred in the research literature, but also proposes a new research tools in the form of the category of “spirituality”.

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