„Nie tworzę prawie nic, lecz przypominam”
“I create almost nothing but remind you”

Słowacki’s Associative Memory in "Beniowski"

Author(s): Olga Taranek-Wolańska
Subject(s): Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Juliusz Słowacki; Beniowski; associative memory; anamnesis; cryptomnesia
Summary/Abstract: The article discusses various mechanisms of memories in "Beniowski" by Juliusz Słowacki, which are typical of associative discourse in a digressive poem. Therefore, anamnestic memory is distinguished, which in "Beniowski" is subordinated to irony and defines Słowacki’s attitude to tradition, including the literary one, and is associated with the language crisis experienced by the poet. The basis for Słowacki’s cryptomnesia memory is also pointed out, which is associated not only with his erudition and the phenomenal ability to remember. Nowadays, it is interpreted as a manifestation of the poet’s intertextuality, his struggle with the influence of his predecessors and searching for his romantic idiom. The article gives examples of associations related to Jaszuny that Słowacki visited in his youth. The article also explores associations with Ludwika Śniadecka, Słowacki’s youthful love. Finally, cryptomnesia and anamnesis are shown as figures of memory, subordinated in "Beniowski" to different types of irony, which breaks the course of a digressive poem, and in a broader perspective – disrupts the reference function of the language.

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