Proza Marka Hłaski pomiędzy marksizmem a egzystancjalizmem
Hłasko’s Prose Between Marxism and Existentialism

Summary/Abstract: The works of Marek Hłasko are the most interesting example of the struggles of a member of the ’56 generation for breaking the socialist realism pattern in literature. The effects of moving from the Marxist philosophy to existentialism in Hłasko’s prose are best illustrated by his two works: Baza Sokołowska (1954) and Następny do raju (1957). The first one is an ideologically involved story presenting labor as a man’s heroic effort towards self-fulfillment. The second work is a novel polemical towards communist Poland, depicting daily grind with no perspectives. A comparison of these texts indicates that overcoming the myth of literature’s instrumental function in the service of economy takes place through reversing the earlier pattern. Utopia turns into anti-utopia. Only the model protagonist remains the same person (although different inside) – Marek Hłasko himself.

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