An Attempt at Articulation Cover Image

Próba artykulacji
An Attempt at Articulation

Author(s): Wojciech Sztaba
Subject(s): Theory of Literature
Published by: Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: Witkiewicz; Witkacy; Pure Form; metaphysical feeling; unity in multiplicity;

Summary/Abstract: Witkacy’s Pure Form expresses the metaphysical essence of art. On the one side, it symbolizes the structure of the world, the unity in plurality (which is demonstrated in the picture’s composition) and, on the other, the notion deals with the processes of creating and perceiving an art work. The moment in which the self feels itself embedded in the wholeness of the world is the moment in which the metaphysical feeling arises, and in which the experience of art is fulfilled. Witkacy provides many examples for situations evoking this feeling. He describes them in his novels, he finds synonyms as suchness, curiosity of existence, mystery of being or unity of identity, he switches from scientific to poetic language. And he emphasizes that this feeling, while defying verbalization, is a real, not a supernatural one: a psychophysical phenomenon accessible to introspection, and inseparable from one's cultural and individual background.

  • Issue Year: 2010
  • Issue No: 14
  • Page Range: 107-121
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Polish
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