Powolne wrastanie w przestrzeń w powieści „Opętani” Witolda Gombrowicza
Slow growing into space in the novel „Opętani” („Possessed”) by Witold Gombrowicz

Author(s): Magdalena Dudzińska
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Summary/Abstract: The text discusses the issue of space, or more precisely, the question how private, family, social space and the space of a specific place (in this case it is the castle in Mysłocza) influences the development of the central character’s personality, and how he grows into space. I understand ‘growing into’ both as becoming aware of oneself as a physical whole and the ability to recognize one’s emotions through the prism of Romantic horror, and as becoming aware of one’s surroundings. What is surroundings for both Gombrowicz and the protagonist of the novel „Opętani” („Possessed”) are people encountered in the space of the court or the castle; the encounter with them is at the same time a clash with madness, strangeness, anomaly, possession — which also shapes the protagonist and influences his growing into space. Due to becoming aware of this space, watching and entering it is possible to indicate ever newer, clearer Gothic elements in the novel written by Gombrowicz. In the article, I have pointed out, in the first place, how much gradual growing into space exposes the Gothic character of both the place and the principal character of „Opętani” („Posssessed”).

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