„Futro jest puste. C’est fini”. Barbara Radziwiłłówna z Jaworzna-Szczakowej Michała Witkowskiego jako literatura „końca literatury”
"The fur is empty. C'est fini ". Barbara Radziwiłłówna from Jaworzno-Szczakowa by Michał Witkowski as literature of "the end of literature"

Summary/Abstract: The text attempts to read Barbara Radziwiłłówna z Jaworzna-Szczakowej by Michał Witkowski in the context of the post-modern conviction on the exhaustion of creative capabilities of literature. To this effect, it references both theories contributing to the paradigm of postmodernism, including Francis Lyotard’s “collapse of grand narratives”, and concepts directly referencing the literary output, such as “the literature of exhaustion”, “banalism” or “spoiled literature”. The article examines how these decadent tendencies have affected the construction of individual segments of the novel; beginning from sentences, through plot and the protagonist, to the message of the work. A key aspect seems to be (in accordance with John Barth’s postulate) an attempt to “feed” on what is considered to be “burnt-out”. Witkowski deliberately emphasizes elements considered to be the most worn out. He carries ultimate forms to the extreme. By creating their negatives (e.g. a negative of plot, sentence, message), the author manages to get – at least partially – outside the thematized exhaustion.

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