…w domku Jego ducha. Paradoks Mickiewicza
… in his spirit’s dwelling. Mickiewicz’s paradox

Author(s): Maria Cieśla-Korytowska
Subject(s): Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, Philology, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Rozmowa wieczorna; poem; paradoxes; Bóg się rodzi; aporias; Henri de Lubac; Christian concept of Incarnation; Dyskurs wieczorny; spirit’s dwelling; poetic rhetoric;
Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to analyse a poem "Rozmowa wieczorna" [Evening Discourse] with regard to paradoxes, juxtapositions and aporias included in the poem which are present in its rhetorical as well as theological dimension. By making reference to Henri de Lubac’s constatation on paradox as an essential element of a Christian concept of Incarnation, the author examines Mickiewicz’s "Evening Discourse" in the context of the greatest Polish Christmas carol "Bóg się rodzi" [God Is Born] by F. Karpiński whose lyrics are also based on paradoxes. By means of this analogy the author of this article concludes that the leading metaphor included in "Evening Discourse" – the ‘spirit’s dwelling’ – indicates that in comparison to Karpiński’s piece Mickiewicz aims his attention at a more subjective approach to theological issues as well as to the use of paradox as a means to poetic rhetoric. As a matter of fact, Mickiewicz’s poem is primarily his confession and not his attempt to describe unspeakable theological mysteries which are only possible to express by means of paradoxes.

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