Dyskurs pamięci w eseistyce Draga Jančara
Discourse of memory in Drago Jančar’s essays

Author(s): Monika Gawlak
Subject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Summary/Abstract: Essayistic work by Drago Jančar is understood here as one of the modern literature’s models, namely the elitist-instrumental model (R. Nycz). Moreover, Slovenian artist’s essays seem to be a testimony to the faith in the “grand narrative” as defined by Jean-François Lyotard, the narrative that is capable of organizing common history, looking for the truth and which is the creation of an autonomous subject. The memory category plays a dominant role in Drago Jančar’s essays. By reminding History, confronting with History, those essays become a part of the reflection on the human condition, condition of a Slovenian, a European, an intellectual, a writer. They are the voice of a literary subject conscious of the role of History in shaping fates in the individual and collective dimensions. Jančar’s essays represent identity and memorial discourse, but less in an individual, autobiographical meaning, and more in the context of historical and cultural memory. Despite skepticism, the subject of essays reminds the past in the interest of identity and values. Reflection on the fate of the nation, on historical changes, shall contribute to the awareness of the variability of History, to arouse a sense of responsibility, and finally its purpose is to show how national delusions distort the reality.

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