Przezroczysta lekkość bytu – od Calvina do Bieńczyka
The transparent lightness of being – from Calvino to Bieńczyk

Summary/Abstract: Transparency is one of physical esthetic categories that are used to describe literature and other arts. The main aim of this paper is to show how those esthetic categories are used on three levels: esthetic, performatively-dramatic and philosophical in modern literature, theater, film and fine arts. The starting point for those considerations are methods of Italo Calvino (“American lectures”) and Marek Bieńczyk (his collection of essays titled “Transparency”) . Calvino’s category of “trans- parency” (in his attempt to go beyond anthropocentric cognition with the author’s main question: “Is imagination an instrument of cognition?”) is contrasted with Marek Bieńczyk’s term of “trans- parency”, who has pointed out the positive aspects of paintings (which are not only giving a feel- ing of emptiness but also provide certainty of clarity and obviousness). In addition to these catego- ries, lucidity and glassiness are featured and a crystal structure is summoned in the context of mistiness as its opposition.

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