„Spieszczenie monstrualności”? Kołysanka w cieniu Zagłady
“Belittling the Monstrosity?” Lullaby in the Shadow of the Shoah

Summary/Abstract: The paper attempts to demonstrate the changing awareness of literary genres among the authors of Jewish descent writing in Polish and Yiddish, on the example of poetic lullabies. It is argued that although the immense popularity of this genre – among both professionals and amateurs – stems from the particular historical context, it is also connected to the emotions the lullaby evokes (as it connotes the idyllic childhood, as well as the somatic proximity with the mother) and the lack of rigid rules. Moreover, the eponymous genre intertwines with the genre indicators derived from epicedium – that is, lament – in order to make the liminal experience possible to be articulated. In the lullabies written during the times of military occupation and the extermination of the Jews, the addressee happens to be a guarantee of the continuity of the lineage; the lullaby thus unfolds its own elegiac and consoling potentialities. The authors presented in this paper reconcile the idyllic tone with the testamentary one, whereas the lullaby itself with its semantic capacity turns out to be a universal genre.

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