O człowieku zblokowanym
The In-Blocked Person

Summary/Abstract: The enthusiasm which followed the emergence of contemporary city planning and architecture was quickly replaced by a dissatisfaction with life in concrete block surroundings. In the 1960’s the concrete reality of housing estates made its debut in poetry. In his book of poems called Lumpenezje Marian Grześczak was the first to use the word “concrete” to indicate a place which overwhelms through its lack of life and air. In the 1970’s, at the peak of their popularity, people gradually became accustomed to concrete housing estates. Poems by Dariusz Tomasz Lebioda portray “a feeling that this world is quite natural”, nevertheless, Stanisław Barańczak expresses a completely different point of view, that of a crushing hopelessness and emptiness. In this context it is not surprising that the inhabitant of such an abode longs for space and tranquillity, as in the poem by Julian Kornhauser. Although the poet ridicules the character he depicts, a simple woman who is having problems with making an application for a garden allotment, Karol Maliszewski believes that the poem reflects a striving for happiness and freedom which is impossible to achieve in a block of flats. It is an interesting fact that many talented young poets come from the public housing estates in Upper Silesia. Karol Maliszewski notices that where the “antithesis of beauty” is most apparent the sensitive eye becomes sharper. Their poetry contains a specific type of gloom, which plays a therapeutic role in removing the dirt and ugliness from the environment. And although to Arkadiusz Kremza everything stays exactly the same “where yesterday/The churches and the brothels. A headache and a couple of empty bottles,” he tries to make some sense of the situation, similarly in a way to Krzysztof Siwczyk who is happy to discover the natural pulse of life in the zone where death resides.

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