Series:Studia literackie

The image of marriage in Bartosz Paprocki’s “antifeminist” works in the social, religious and literary context of the 16th and the first half of the 17th century

Obraz małżeństwa w „antyfeministycznych” utworach Bartosza Paprockiego na tle obyczajowych, religijnych oraz literackich zjawisk XVI i pierwszej połowy XVII wieku

Author(s): Beata Stuchlik-Surowiak / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: marriage; male-female relationships; antifeminism

The book outlines the life and work of Bartosz Paprocki, a heraldist and poet of the turn of the sixteenth century. The writer is well-known in the Czech Republic, where his writings have regularly been reprinted and where his life and work have been discussed in many scholarly articles. In Poland until recently he has received very little attention as a rather mediocre author, who cannot be compared to such prominent figures as Rej or Kochanowski. However, in recent years the interest in Paprocki’s work appears to have been growing, its focus being mostly on his heraldic texts, such as Herby rycerstwa polskiego (Coats of arms of Polish knighthood). The focus of this work is Paprocki’s occasional writings, in particular his poems on the subject of marriage and male-female relationships, such as “Dziesięcioro przykazanie mężowo”, “Próba cnót dobrych”, “Nauka rozmaitych filozofów około obierania żony” and “Nauka i przestrogi na różne przypadki ludzkie”. So far, in the scholarly tradition they have been interpreted as “antifeminist”, with their author frequently described as “the enemy of women.” This opinion is based on the fact that all these poems contain the motif of cruelty towards the wife. Indeed some of them are organised as collections of recipes and tips how to punish and beat a bad wife. While classifying these works as didactic writings, scholars have attempted to demonstrate that Paprocki’s declared animosity towards women originated in his own marriage troubles — he was married to Jadwiga Kossobudzka, a rich widow older than himself, who turned out to be dominating and quarrelsome, which purportedly made him flee from home. The present book departs sharply from this interpretation of his poems and aims to show that most of the “antifeminist” motifs derive not from the author’s personal experience but from humorous writings by “picaros” and members of the so called Babin Republic. This type of literature contains many motifs which are similar to those used by Paprocki, that is beating and battering the wife by the husband; they are, however, to be read as jocular rather than didactic and moralising pieces. This view is confirmed by the differences between various editions of Paprocki’s writings, which have so far been ignored. It has long been known that his marriage theme pieces were published many times during the 16th and 17th centuries. However, it is only after a thorough analysis of these editions carried out by the author of this volume that it became evident that the texts actually substantially differ. An analysis of the earliest editions shows that Paprocki often interspersed them with tips which were to help the reader to realise that the text was in fact a literary joke. Thus, the only plausible context for the interpretation of “antifeminist” motifs in Paprocki’s writings is Old Polish humorous literature. The motivation for this type of literary activity undertaken by the respectable author of “Herby rycerstwa polskiego” must be sought in his ceaseless pursuit of wealth, which was indeed his obsession, as he himself admitted many times in his various works. The marriage theme seemed particularly well suited for that purpose, in particular its humorous variations, which were very remote from the customs and norms of his time. This made his poems much sought after and widely-read, bringing their author a comfortable income.

Around Kochanowski’s „Laments”. The Historical and Literary Perspective

Wokół „Trenów” Jana Kochanowskiego. Szkice historycznoliterackie

Author(s): Teresa Banaś-Korniak / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Jan Kochanowski; laments; psalms; funerary works; Polish poetry of the 16th century

The monograph comprises a series of essays discussing various aspects of the elegiac poetry of Jan Kochanowski, whose most profound literary achievement were undoubtedly the “Laments”, dedicated to his departed thirteen-month-old daughter. Chapter One, “The Issue of Genetics” constitutes a discussion of the early elegiac poetry of Jan of Blackwood, particularly a text written in Polish and dedicated to Jan Tarnowski, a distinguished Polish commander. The author, quoting passages from a 16th-century scholar Julius C. Scaliger, proves that Kochanowski, by directing his poetic message to the son of the late commander, was inspired by the generic characteristics of consolation speech (Consolatio), discussed by Scaliger in his theoretical treatise. The two following subchapters of the first part of the monograph are respectively devoted to metapoetic themes in “Laments” as well as the issue of genology of the series of poems dedicated to Orszulka Kochanowska. The metapoetic themes which exemplify the poet’s creative awareness and his aspiration to compete with the ancient tradition (aemulatio) are present primarily in the “seminal” texts and include: the title, which references the ancient Greek literary tradition of laments; the dedication; the epigraph; the epitaph for his other departed daughter, Hanna, added to the cycle; as well as the opening poems in the cycle, especially “Lament I” and “Lament II”.The author, on the basis of the conducted analysis, postulates that the poet of Blackwood accepted the ancient rule of decorum but understood it in a different, innovative way, thus setting himself apart from his contemporaries as he suggested that each person had the right to individual opinions and values. The content of the dedication which precedes the “Laments” testified to the subjective relationship of the mourner to the close relative. Thus the little girl—the subject of “Laments”—is presented not from the perspective of social or general human judgments, but rather she is presented through the lens of the values characteristic of a given person. For the poet, that departed child was a prominent figure, worthy of the lofty style, as a poem about the suffering and moral quandaries of the humanist thinker practically demands that sort of style. Thus, both the “seminal” (delimitative) texts which accompany the “Laments” and intratextual utterances which are metapoetic in nature testify to the fact that Kochanowski, even though he accepted and applied poetic norms as dictated by tradition as well as the rules of poetics of that time, still insisted on searching for new poetic solutions and new interpretations of normative rules originating in the ancient times.The last subchapter on “the issue of genetics” concerns the genological characteristic of the “Laments”. Analysing various formal elements of the poem (the type of the lyrical I, the addressees, the character of the world of the poem, composition, versification, the perspective on the subject, and others), the author concludes that the text was influenced by various literary forms, e.g. philosophical poem, classical epicedium, ancient tragedy, psalm, ancient Greek lament. “Laments” are characterised by a peculiar syncretic form, and the thesis that one of the genological forms is superior to others constitutes only one avenue of interpretation.The aim of Chapter Two, “The Expression of Silence in the “Laments”,” is to discuss the function of one of the tools which Kochanowski draws from the literary tradition. The expression of silence constitutes a literary means of expression which was used successfully by ancient tragedians such as Aeschylus and later on was adapted for the purposes of the planctus in the Middle Ages, and both their influences can be seen in the “Laments”. Moreover, Kochanowski skilfully and tastefully adapted this poetic tool to let it reflect new meanings and allow for the posing of existential questions.Chapter Three, entitled “ ‘Understanding through suffering…’ In Search of the Tragic Formula in the “Laments”,” focuses on the issue of suffering and tragedy in the poem dedicated to Orszulka. The author attempts to reveal the conflicting mechanism of the poetic world of the “Laments”. This conflict is exemplified by the struggle, the act of choosing and the deeds of man—and it is precisely that which constitutes the essence of tragedy. These contradictions are noticeable even in the very construct of being, which the lyrical I of the “Laments” comes to recognise, in the chaos of various phenomena and the multiplicity of meanings of particular words and symbols emphasised in the work. These antinomies are present also in the human subject—the lyrical I, who struggles with himself as well as the ever-present, insidious evil. Thus, the mind of the subject shaped by the Renaissance principle of humanism, which emphasises the importance of order and harmony, experiences an internal battle between opposing forces. The shocking experiences and reflections of the lyrical I—the father—allow for the emergence of the will to overcome the tragedy, but at the same time they contribute to a certain intellectual scepticism on the part of the subject (see: the word “uncertain” at the beginning of the last verse of “Lament XIX”).In Chapter Four, “Towards Allegoresis. Allusions to Greek and Roman Mythology and Mythological Figures in the “Laments”,” the author discusses the allegorical dimension of Kochanowski’s references to mythological figures. The truth concerning reality, which exists on the allegorical level of the myth, i.e. the truth about the connection between the human life and the cycle of nature and the connection with earth, the truth about the inexorable passage of time and the inevitability of death regardless of age or experience—this truth remains unacceptable for the lyrical I. The confrontation of human, subjective logic with the logic of nature reveals the lack of acceptance on the part of the subject and certain rejection of the objective laws of the universe (“wretched Persephone”), which appears as mysterious, uncertain and impossible to understand completely by the human mind. The only thing which remains unsusceptible to death seems to be love (Orpheus), but love neither soothes nor eradicates suffering.The last chapter, entitled “Stone as a Motif and as a Symbol in Kochanowski’s Works,” is devoted to the analysis of the motif of the stone in Jan Kochanowski’s poetry. In the chapter, the author ventures beyond the elegiac texts and analyses not only the “Laments”, but also “Psalms”, “Songs”, “Epigrams”, “Forricoenia” (written in Latin) and other—less well-known—works. Comparing Kochanowski’s paraphrase of the psalms with other 16th-century translations of “David’s Psalter” testifies not only to Kochanowski’s excellent craftsmanship but also makes evident the peculiar and omnipresent symbolism of the motif of the stone in his poetry. The motif of an uncut stone as an element of nature or, in a broader sense, an element of creation, appears usually in his works which allude to the Judeo-Christian tradition. In “Psalms”, it reflects the power of God, and, as an element which supports the enormous weight of a symbolic edifice, it symbolises Jesus Christ. Moreover, the motif of the rock (pillar of strength, mountain) appears in “Psalms” far more often than in his other works. The rock, thus, comes to symbolise the holy place, the glory of God, safety and support which God grants righteous and pious men. On the other hand, the motif of a carved stone, one which has been adapted for everyday use, is present predominantly in poems which allude to the Greek and Roman ancient order. These poems are primarily metapoetic or meditative in character, but there are several elegiac or love poems among them as well. Similarly to the psalms, the symbolic nature of the stone seems to be vast, encompassing a variety of meanings. The stone can symbolise both values highly regarded by the human subject, and, on the other hand, the negative aspects of reality, including the evil present in the world.In “Conclusions,” the author emphasises that the rejection of schematic thinking expressed in the poems, as well as their apology of individual choices made by a subject, the preference for not only a particularly understood “virtue” but also subjective systems of values appear to have been so far mostly ignored by the literature on the subject. The author’s individualism is manifested not only in his search for new artistic solutions and his innovative attitude towards the literary legacy of antiquity (aemulatio). Quite the opposite, the content of his works also betrays a deep conviction concerning the necessity of respecting all human lives. Looking back at Kochanowski’s works from the perspective of the 21st century, when the threat of schematic thinking—for various reasons, including perhaps the influence of contemporary media—has finally become real, we can appreciate not only the artistry, but also the lyrical and meditative attitude, built on extremely strong foundations (Bible and the Greek and Roman antiquity), which remain omnipresent in the works of Jan of Blackwood—a poet, a sage, and a humanist.

In quotes. On the Polish literature of the 20th and 21st century

W cudzysłowie. O literaturze polskiej XX i XXI wieku

Author(s): Iwona Gralewicz-Wolny / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: contemporary Polish poetry; contemporary Polish prose; 20th century; 21st century

The book consists of twelve interpretative essays which relate the author’s close encounters with the Polish literature of the 20th and 21st century. The publication opens with a micrological look into the poetry of Bolesław Leśmian as a story of the simultaneous power and misery of life, which by being embodied in an infinite number of forms ensures permanence of existence to none of these forms. The subsequent essay is a reading, guided by poetics, of the ideological poems of Władysław Broniewski, whose layer of content admittedly lost their appeal but they continue to enchant the reader with their masterly form which conceals both the mystery of their contemporary success with the readers as well as the reason for the present interest of the researchers in these poems. In the text that follows the author suggests a shared reading of a Władysław Sebyła poem which begins with *** [„Jesteśmy gnojem, mój bracie...”] (*** [“We are the muck, my brother…”]), here treated as a subtle counterpoint to the dark tone of the entire oeuvre of the author of the “Koncert egotyczny” (“An egotistical concert”). A return to the micrological perspective is featured in the article devoted to the works of Anna Kamieńska, in which the poet demonstrates a particular sensibility to small everyday things as a source of the answers to the questions about the sense of the existence of the world, of man and of God. The two subsequent chapters of the book are devoted to the works of Miron Białoszewski as a poet of transgression who consistently observes and deconstructs all patterns that he encounters. The protagonist of the two texts which follow is Wisława Szymborska as the author of the poem entitled “Mikrokosmos” (“Microcosmos”), which is one of the instances of proof, presented in the book, that she is fond of the world of micromatter and that she is a precursor of posthumanist thought in the context of Polish modern poetry. The final text which refers to poetry is an analysis of the volume by Ewa Lipska entitled “Drugi zbiór wierszy” (“Second collection of poems”), in which ironic notes resonate against the background of bitter diagnoses of modernity, enabling the reader to maintain distance toward the existential pitfalls which endanger both the individual and the community. The problems of the three final chapters, devoted to the accomplishments of Ryszard Kapuściński, Jacek Dehnel and Halszka Opfer in the field of prose, oscillate around the category of truth and fiction associated with the problem of the relation about the present time and the past time, the testimony of memory or the horizon of readerly expectations toward the text.

From surrealism to the poetry of symbol. Artistic tendencies in the poetry of Janusz Styczeń

Od surrealizmu do poezji symbolu. Tendencje artystyczne w twórczości poetyckiej Janusza Stycznia

Author(s): Aleksandra Zasępa / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Styczeń; Onirism; surrealism; symbolism; symbol; imagination

The present work is devoted to the lyrical artistic activity of Janusz Styczeń, one of the most interesting contemporary poets, whose artistic path (delineated already in the mid 1960s) gradually led from linguistic experiments characteristic for the accomplishments of Tymoteusz Karpowicz, through the poetics of liberated imagination inspired by surrealistic imagery, and finally up to increasing symbolic tendencies, which stemmed from the poet’s sensitivity based on his fascination with the symbol. In this, to some extent, self-contradictory collation of superrealistic imagery (subjected to the freedom of associations, absurdity, dark, oniric images with a whole repertoire of oddities) and symbolic imagination is rooted not only in a specific, individual quality of his lyric poetry, which makes the author of Wieczna noc miłosna simply a poet „detached”, but also its astonishing cohesion. The present book is an attempt at the interpretational conceptualization of Styczeń’s poetry in terms of surrealistic and symbolic connections, whose roots can be foundboth in the conceptions or works of superrealists, as well as in the sphere of the timeless, superindividual ideas. The respective parts of the book encode the links of the artist’s individual imagination with the symbolic meanings and superrealistic images (literary, artistic), pointing out to the artistic tendencies that are the most important for the poetry of Styczeń, and at the same time unfolding the multiplicity of plots and interpretational perspectives. The avant-garde tendencies, which in the light of tenuous superrealistic tropes in Polish literature can be called a returning echo ofsurrealism, have been described by the author in various chapters of the present book. Chapter 1 has been devoted to onirism and imagination, which in the poetry of the author of Rozkosz gotycka are characterized by surrealistic provenance, which is evidenced most of all in the typical for superrealistic tendencies circle of the most representative plots, elements, and associations. In the case of this particular lyrical poetry, their indication becomes confronted with a dream (as the basis source of superrealistic fantasy) which at the same time becomes a point of departure for the typology of motifs related to surrealism discussed in this chapter.An extremely individual creative method of Styczeń is manifested, among others, in the unusual world he portrays, which is a compilation of objects, phenomena, processes, events, and ideas. This world creates for Styczeń’s poems the aura of strange words, obsessively recurring symbols, which aspire to the name of extremely individual symbols, to a large extent borrowed from the modernistic „props room”. The most characteristic key-symbols for this poetry are inspected in the next chapter of the present book. The attempt at reviewing the figures of speech has been broadened with their interpretation, both in terms of their connections and relations to literary-study ideas, as well as in terms of the most important tenets of psychoanalysis and psychocriticism, which treats the symbolic system as a pictorial, enigmatic, and metaphoric portrait of mental reality. Also characteristic in Styczeń’s surreal-symbolic poetic creativity is his turn towards artistic visions and the presence of numerous analogies to iconographic depictions. The juxtaposition of the poetry of the author of Boski paragraf with visual art is contained in the chapter entitled W kręgu malarskiej metafory (Within pictorial metaphor). Here, the intersemiotic space of pictures and words becomes for the author of the present study first of all the point of departure that enables to refer the poetic structure to a specific iconography. The poetry of Janusz Styczeń is considered by many critics as the only conscious continuation of surrealistic program in general, and his poetic tactics – according to some literary researchers – reveals the poet’s wish to make up for the missing link of the Polish superrealistic poetry. The problem of Styczeń’s poetry put against the context of literary fates of Polish surrealistic imagery has been undertaken in the final chapter of the present book, which is a compilation of various research attitudes and the most important interpretational suggestions related to the creative method adopted by the poet. The present book constitutes an attempt at inspecting the poetry of this contemporary poet (situated still somewhere at the periphery of literature) in terms of cognitive paths as well as artistic tendencies employed, which drive, inspire, and determine this captivating lyrical poetry. At the same time, the study proves that over the years that witnessed the publication of subsequent texts and volumes, the poems of Janusz Styczeń have still remained aesthetically consistent, submerged in the oniric world of a dream, full of philosophical and cultural references, stretched out somewhere between visionary metaphorics of superrealism and an symbolic space as an alternative to the world.

Reality and fiction. The presented worlds in literature and culture of the 19th-20th centuries

Rzeczywistość i zmyślenie. Światy przedstawione w literaturze i kulturze XIX–XXI wieku

Author(s): Grażyna Maroszczuk / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: the presented world; fiction; “reality and fiction”

In 2015 Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego published two related collections of essays devoted to the presented worlds in literature and culture. The first one discussed “the familiar and the remote world in Old Polish areas”, and the second one “the enlightened and Romantic worlds” (a paraphrase of the titles of both volumes). The collection which we present to the reader, by continuing the research in the reality and the fiction which is presented, covers a broad temporal spectrum from the 19th to the 21st century. It is obvious that such a wide range must be associated with the great variety of the object of research. The authors analyse works which represent various genres (a literary document, various kinds of novels, autobiographical narratives, fantasy, children’s prose, epistolography), which engage various subjects, intended for various recipients. The thing which the essays represented in this collections share is the reflection about the manner of the existence of the real world in narrative prose. All of these essays touch upon the universal problem of the relation between truth and fiction and they attempt to answer the question about the manner in which the real world is expressed in language (especially in artistic language). The book is intended for secondary school pupils, students and academic teachers.

Literature for children and young people. Vol. 5

Literatura dla dzieci i młodzieży. T. 5

Author(s): / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: literature for children and young people; books for children and young people; the reading canon; the theme of the Second World War; taboo subjects; gender; novels for girls

Vol. 5 Literatures for children and young people includes a discussion of the contemporary phenomena which represent the sphere of the culture of books for children and young people, whose presence may be observed with varying intensity in the period 1989-2015. The book is divided into four parts. The first one discusses the following: the construction of reading lists intended for young readers, the subject associated with the Second World War in books for young people, upsetting subject matter i.e. death. There is also reflection about texts which are associated with the book and the themes which initiate the reader into the so-called gender. The following problems are discussed: the relations of the novels intended for girls and women, the ways of the construction of fantasy characters in contemporary fairy tales. The authors manifested an interest in the following fields: the realisation of the genre-related premises of horror in the literature intended for young readers; texts which engage themes associated with adventures and travel; religious books. The first part of the book is concluded by remarks devoted to the functioning of the book and its reception in the most familiar milieu – at home and subsequently at school, during the process of education.A similar complex of problems is devoted to publishing, the ways of the existence of new forms of expression intended for young readers, which include inter alia the possibilities of new media, including the Internet. There is a discussion of the problems associated with the functioning of series, comic books by Polish authors and the so-called convergence books on the publishing market. The transformations which were experienced by periodicals intended for young readers were also discussed.The third part of Vol. 5 Literatures for children and young people contains a treatment of the translations into Polish of texts of foreign writers who write for children and young people. There is also a presentation of the current state of research in the literature for non-adult readers, and, finally, the problems of non-professional criticism, whose frequent manifestations include superficial reviews of books for children and young people.The final part of the volume is constituted by articles devoted to the form of work with a non-adult reader. There is a discussion of the functioning of modern libraries, transformed into mediatheques; the activities whose purpose is to popularise readership, but also in the extra-library context. There is also a focus on bibliotherapeutical problems. Thus the means of utilising literary texts which enable children to come to terms with their fears, i.e. the fear experienced during the process of falling asleep.Due to the wide range of problems which are engaged, Vol. 5 Literatures for children and young people is intended, similarly as in the case of the previous volumes in the series, to everyone – students, employees of the academia, librarians, the employees of other cultural institutions – who are interested in books for children and young people, the market of such publications, and the institutions which popularise such publications.

To Desire. Essays on Modern Literature

Pragnąć. Szkice o literaturze nowoczesnej

Author(s): Wacław Forajter / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Bolesław Prus; Wokulski; Władysław Stanisław Reymont; Ignacy Maciejowski; Marcel Schwob; Jerzy Andrzejewski

The articles that comprise the book focus on a description of the phenomenon ofmodernity in the context of various theories of desire, starting from the classic Freudianpsychoanalysis through to Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze’s schizoanalysis. The first section of articles entitled Szyfry pragnienia w twórczości Bolesława Prusa (Codes of Desirein Bolesław Prus’s Writings) is devoted to The Doll, and in particular, to the characters’entanglement in the sexual norms and restrictions binding in the second half of the 19thcentury. The last text about the 1890 novel concerns the as yet insufficiently discussed connections of Prus’s novel with Maxime Du Camp’s treatise Paris, ses organes, ses fonctions, sa vie, which sheds new light on the Parisian episode.The cycle Piekielny pociąg Władysława Stanisława Reymonta (Władysław StanisławReymont’s Infernal Desire) consists of two dissertations devoted to the Nobel Prize laureate’swork. The first Niebezpieczeństwa fantazji (The Dangers of Phantasies) is an attemptto interpretet The Dreamer using theoretical tools developed by Jacques Lacan. Then, thesecond text entitled Falangi infernalne (Infernal Phalanxes), is an attempt at interpretingthe selected themes in The Vampire through the lens of the Leo Taxil case resounding atthe turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.The last part Inne pragnienia (Other Desires) contains two articles. The text “Gdypopłyną miliony…” (“When Millions Begin to Flow in…”) is a comprehensive analysis ofIgnacy “Sewer” Maciejowski’s forgotten novel about a Galician petroleum boom. Its interpretation focuses on such categories as: money, affect, sexuality and work viewed fromthe context of Guattari and Deleuze’s conception. The dissertation entitled Pasje (Passions)begins with a comparison of the vision of the Middle Ages chilren’s crusade created byMarcel Schwo and Jerzy Andrzejewski, and arrives at more genralized conclusions aboutthe nature of a homosexual desire and the specificity of historical writing.

Great themes of American literature. Vol. 7: Love

Wielkie tematy literatury amerykańskiej. T. 7: Miłość

Author(s): / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: love; literature; American literature; feeling

"We are presenting to you another, i.e. the seventh volume of Great Themes of American Literature. This time, what is the dominant motif of the collection is love." The authors of the eleven texts comprised in the collection try to answer the question of whether love really is a great American theme. Do the members of this society, which is generally perceived as pragmatic, materialistic and consumption-oriented, appreciate the feeling of love? Do literary images of love exist in American literature (and culture), and if so, what are they like? This volume is an attempt to answer these and similar questions. " (Sonia Caputa, Agnieszka Woźniakowska - Introduction)

Władysław Sebyła. Readings

Władysław Sebyła. Lektury

Author(s): / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Władysław Sebyła; catastrophism; poetry; imagination; pessimism

A collective volume entitled Władysław Sebyła. Readings is a polyphonic and multidimensional monograph of the works by the catastrophic poet of the interwar period. It points to a new approach to reading this intriguing poetry, while revealing its unusual interpretive potential and various connections with the tradition of Polish lyricism. The book is evidence for multiple original/authorial readings, which adopted various methodological foundations, and multiplied interpretative contexts. It presents the very first, so multifaceted description of the phenomenon of Władysław Sebyła's work, imagination and thoughts, which is enriched with essays about his dramatic and critical literary works. What is the key to describing the specificity of the poet's literary output is the interpretative event, micrological reading, fascinating and exploratory encounter with the text. And this is why the analysis and interpretation of individual works, each time elucidating the whole of the poet's work anew, play such an important role in the volume. The book Władysław Sebyła. Readings is intended for both researchers and students of literature, as well as for all those interested in the twentieth-century poetry.

Varieties of expressionism in postmodern Italian prose of 1980–2000

Varianti dell'espressionismo nella narrativa italiana postmoderna 1980–2000

Author(s): Joanna Janusz / Language(s): French

Keywords: expressionism; postmodernism; avant-garde; linguistic experiments; narrative patterns; imaging

The world of contemporary culture puts differences and multiplicity in opposition to the former urge of uniformizing; it eliminates continuity in favour of contingency; it values diversity and otherness over identity and similarity, and it rejects the neatness and safety of theoretical conceptualizations. An attempt at validating the claim that also today a certain aesthetic and literary movement lives on, which for some scholars is nothing more than a historical phenomenon from the past, may seem to be an empty and hopelessly unreal rhetorical strategy. Yet, for the present monograph, the point of departure is an assumption that artistic texts appearing and functioning in a specific cultural environment and tradition should have a feature in common. And to this particular feature, defined as expressionism, the present work has been devoted.The two introductory chapters discuss the origin and evolution of historical expressionism at the beginning of the 20th century, with a special emphasis placed on the Italian varieties of this tendency, i.e. the futurism and the aesthetic views of artists affiliated with the Florentine magazine “La Voce” (1914–1918). Expressionism is usually defined as an artistic movement that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in German-speaking artistic bohemia as an opposition to impressionism. It was only with the passing of time that this novel artistic technique, that also contained a new idea of the world and the man, spread into the field of literature. The basis for the research on the characteristics and constant features of the movement of this period are thus theoretical texts written both by German authors and artists (i.a. Hermann Bahr, Wilhelm Worringer, Gottfried Benn), as well as by Polish (Erazm Kuźma) and Italian scholars (Gianfranco Contini, Paolo Chiarini). The German and Italian artistic and literary avant-garde of the beginnings of the 20th century is, however, merely one of many forms in which the expressionistic tendency has been realized. Literary historians (e.g. Contini, Segre, Isella) frequently emphasise the view that Italian literature from the very beginning has been marked with the attitude of rebellion towards settled canons and aesthetic authorities.This rebellious form of artistic expression has been termed a developmental line of literature. It is undoubtedly an ahistorical tendency, not subordinated to any particular literary movement, but still active and valid as a reflection of a particular intellectual, philosophical, and moral attitude towards reality in which a man lives and creates. The expressionistic tendency understood in this way contains a specific set of features, such as combining contrasts, linguistic experiments, resemantization, discreteness, the episodicity and ellipticity of narration, the chaos of the world depicted, the contingency of events, hyperbolization and distortions of imaging. The expressionistic effect arises as a result of foregrounding one of those features, defined as an expressionistic dominant, and as a consequence of artistic transfiguration (transformation).In the following chapters of the book, the texts written by Italian prose-writers of the end of the 20th century have been subjected to analysis for the presence of understood in this way expressionistic dominant and ways of artistic transfiguration of individual compositional layers of a literary text. The spectrum of the authors under analysis might seem to be too broad or even inconsistent, as it encompasses both the so-called young writers, who made their debut in the 1980s and 1990s (Tondelli, Ammaniti, Nove, Scarpa, and others), as well as more “classical”, well-established authors (Consolo, Bufalino, Volponi, Testori). All the aforementioned authors are brought together by a strong desire to construct a new experimentalism originating from the awareness of a definite crisis which a contemporary category of language has faced.At all the three levels of the works analysed (linguistic, narrative, and thematic), certain permanent features have been distinguished that characterize expressionistic writing. Upon the linguistic layer, it is mainly concerned with going beyond the norms, hybrydyzation of language, incorporating neologisms, archaisms, dialectisms, specialist terms and spoken language into the literary repertory. All these procedures aim at exposing and emphasizing the expressiveness of text. The analysis of narrative patterns and the relations such as author-narrator, text-reader brings out the basic features of expressionistic diegesis, i.e. variability of focalization, metanarrative tendencies, and the simultaneity of episodes. The outcome of these devices is the impression of staticity and subjectivity of time, which are features of the narrative also present in the literature of modernism. The basic components of expressionistic imaginarium are the motifs of a town, moon, and dream, which are also present in the expressionistic literature of the beginning of the 20th century and updated by postmodern narrators by means of combining contrasts, exposing the effect of strangeness, allegory and hyperbolization. An exact specification of what expressionism is today, in times when it is difficult and even awkward to talk about an artistic or literary experiment, seems to be as hard as it was at the beginning of the century, in the age of historical avant-garde, since the historical avant-garde, and therefore expressionism as well, have long become a part of contemporary cannon. The expressionist techniques of artistic means have become common and they have lost their transgressive character; also, their role and way of functioning in an extensive koine of postmodern literature has changed. Those changes, however, do not imply the loss of meaning of artistic productivity.As a style and function of text, and also as a certain philosophy and idea of a man, expressionism is constantly present, acting in the melting pot of multiplicity and multifariousness of contemporary literature that is devoid of limits and theoretical references.The function of expressionism today is mainly communication. It is primarily a very dynamic and changeable artistic code that maintains vitality thanks to its nature, as it makes the literary past and present relate to each other and cooperate. The tradition of expressionism, being a part of the history of literature, generates new and unpredictable effects in postmodern literary texts, in this way becoming an emblematic example of postmodern creative technique. It is a communication code open to all kinds of thematic and stylistic novelities. This unusual combination of classics and experiment gives rise to a new quality, new aesthetic value, perfectly reflecting the polysemy and incongruity of contemporary literature. The expressionist writers of the postmodern epoch faced against the crisis of the functions of language, and the functions of literary language is particular, offer to establish a new relation with reality, which has always been, and still remains, the basic inspiration and matter of literature. This new relation treats reality as a dynamic process, or, rather, as a multiplicity of simultaneous processes that can only be verbalized by expressionist literature. The writer is therefore a recorder of dynamic processes, also of internal, the most intimate, unusual, irrational hallucinations, who tries to grab a fragment or a version of the most conspicuous feature of our times – unpredictable changeability.

The “self” in axiological spaces. Some problems of subjectivity in the literature of the 19th-20th century

„Ja” w przestrzeniach aksjologicznych. Z problematyki podmiotowości w literaturze XIX–XXI wieku

Author(s): / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: subject; values; literature; axiology

The book entitled “The “self” in axiological spaces. Some problems of subjectivity in the literature of the 19th-20th century”, is an attempt at formulating anew in the modern and postmodern world the relations of the subject with the sphere of values, an attempt in which the “self” and the world may reveal their slightly less obvious features. The significance of literature consists in the fact that the concepts of the world, entities and phenomena which are created by literature are concretised by literature in the form of something which actually exists, manifesting the essence of those things and what happens to them. Similarly it makes evident our “self” entwined with values. Literature creates, organises the field in which the thing which happens may be viewed and examined. By taking advantage of this ontological capability of literature, as well as by taking advantage of a wide array of phenomena which are provided by it, we inquire in the book about the adventures of the “self” in the spaces of values, about what is told about them by literary forms, the new literary figures, and the old ones which are re-interpreted. The first part of the book comprises works which focus in a particular way on poetic figures – for the purpose of the examination and the description of the axiological spaces of poetry. Here romantic and modernist areas of literature interpenetrate; most commonly they are studied according to a cross-sectional, comparative approach. What seems particularly interesting is the discussion between texts which discuss the relations of good and evil, and – in a broader context – about the various forms of the world of values. The second part of the book is organised problem-wise and is somewhat formatted by texts which determine in a fundamental way man’s situation in modernity. Metaphors and symbols faded away, there are only things, their traces in the area of memory. The final part of the book explores the axiological space in frontier literary areas: reportage, criticism or the values in the sphere of electronic output. The book is intended for experts in the field of literature, culture, for philosophers, as well as for general readership who seek a guide in the modern world and who are guided themselves by values.

Old Polish texts and contexts. Vol. 8: An anniversary volume, which is devoted to the creative and organisational output of Professor Jan Malicki and which marks the celebration of his 70th birthday

Staropolskie teksty i konteksty. Tom 8: Tom jubileuszowy, poświęcony pracy twórczej i organizacyjnej Profesora Jana Malickiego w siedemdziesiątą rocznicę Jego urodzin

Author(s): / Language(s): Czech,Polish

Keywords: Jan Malicki; anniversary; Old Polish literature; contexts

The publication is another (eighth) volume in the series “Old Polish texts and contexts”, intended for people who are interested in Old Polish writings and the variety of their contexts. This is an anniversary volume, developed to mark the occasion of Professor Jan Malicki’s 70th birthday. The scholarly articles which are a part of this publication were written by the collaborators and the students of the Professor.

Troping the Troubles: The Rhetoric of Cultural Memory in Recent Northern Irish Fiction

Tropy konfliktu. Retoryka pamięci kulturowej we współczesnej powieści północnoirlandzkiej

Author(s): Leszek Drong / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Cultural Memory; Rhetoric; Troping; Fiction; Troubles; Northern Irish; Reconciliation; Community

“Troping the Troubles” shows how recent Northern Irish fiction remembers the past. The focus of this work is on recent history and contested narratives of the past; it seeks to illustrate the significance of cultural representations of the Troubles in shaping collective memory. Northern Ireland provides a particularly interesting set of historical, social and political circumstances to inspire literary productions, which Drong calls, following Birgit Neumann, fictions of memory. Novels connected with the Troubles, featuring characters preoccupied with the past – with remembering or forgetting the conflict – are explored at length here, particular heed being paid to how they affect models of mnemonic performance. Inspired by recent research into memory studies, and cultural memory studies in particular, Drong identifies distinctive aspects of memory culture in Northern Ireland. In consequence, Troubles fiction proves to be a uniquely adequate illustration of performative memorealism, a discourse that is responsible for a cultural normativization of the past due to its potential to create the illusion of history’s stability and identity in the characters’ or/and narrators’ memories. Chapter 1 is concerned with the historical and political background that underpins most of the novels interpreted in Chapters 3-6. Its main purpose is to explain the circumstances that had led to the establishment of Northern Ireland in 1921 and then to the eruption of violence there in 1969. A detailed discussion of the Troubles is offered to explain and/or refute common misconceptions connected with the conflict, including the allegedly religious motivations of the two major communities in Northern Ireland. The current situation in the province is also explored at some length to explain why Brexit may threaten the peace process. Chapter 2, in turn, focuses mostly on memory studies and its relevance to Northern Irish fiction. Recent developments concerning cultural memory studies are placed in political and historical contexts relevant to Irish studies to produce a rhetorical perspective that is particularly sensitive to how Irish fictions of memory perform, i.e., what role they play within Irish memory culture. The argument offered in this chapter is premised on the assumption that literary works are both representational and performative: their performance in culture depends upon the illusion of reference (hence the significant role of memory in fiction). Chapter 2 also raises the issue of Northern Irish literature as a distinct category and its usefulness for further analysis. The chapters concerned with Northern Irish novels focus on „Reading in the Dark” by Seamus Deane, „Ripley Bogle” by Robert McLiam Wilson, „One by One in the Darkness” by Deirdre Madden and „The Truth Commissioner” by David Park. Those four works of fiction are discussed in light of the concerns raised in Chapter 2 but also much attention is given in those readings to their specific historical and geographical circumstances, the linguistic minutiae, all those apparently trivial, idiosyncratic details suppressed by mainstream history but intriguing and captivating as aspects of minority narratives, counter-narratives, postnational/transnational memory cultures, etc. The concluding chapter introduces the concept of restorative memory, which is not so much concerned with truth recovery per se but instead envisages either individual or communal redemption or restitution if those may lead to reconciliation within Northern Irish society.

The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potocki and selected novels from the 20th century (Fowles – Rosendorfer – Gretkowska)

„Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie” Jana Potockiego i wybrane powieści XX wieku (Fowles – Rosendorfer – Gretkowska)

Author(s): Maria Janoszka / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Potocki Jan; Fowles John; Rosendorfer Herbert; novel; intertextuality

The present study tries to show the unusual modernity of The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potocki by analysing the intertextual relations between the work of the Count, written in the first decades of the 19th century, and two 20th-century novels: The Magus by John Fowles and The Architect of Ruins by Herbert Rosendorfer. Another novel subjected to analysis is Manuela Gretkowska’s Rękopis nieodnaleziony, czyli zalety szubienic.Convergences and similarities can be indicated primarily in the scope of the composition of works, genre and literary conventions used, the construction of the protagonist and novel spaces. Their analysis leads to further findings: these novels are linked by genre diversity, compositional and ideological polyphony, philosophical, epistemological, anthropological and metalliterary problems, dramatization of the depicted world, the element of irony and parody, the symbolism of the labirynth and circles, and other, more detailed ties, such as mirror motifs, love triangles or the figure of the Wandering Jew. All these works also highlight the importance of the act of narration and explore various areas of Mediterranean culture. Among the direct allusions present in the works of Rosendorfer and Gretkowska, there are repeated vampire motives that take up the game with the legend surrounding Potocki’s death, and at the same time draw an image of the „vampirism” of The Manuscript… itself, constructed from recurring, potentially infinite stories.From this perspective, The Manuscript… appears as a work extremely close to contemporary consciousness, pioneering in the face of 20th-century novels on many levels, from artistic solutions to the correlated vision of an unrecognisable, changeable and relative world. These numerous analogies, noticeable between works created in different epochs and national literatures, demonstrate the novelty of Potocki’s writing.

The correspondence and the occasional literature in the circle of the magnates of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Korespondencja i literatura okolicznościowa w kręgu magnaterii Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego

Author(s): Mariola Jarczykowa / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Radziwiłłowie; Lew Sapieha; Krzysztof Dorohostajski

In the present publication the author engages the problems associated with the correspondence and the occasional literature of the first half of the 17th century which have to do mainly with the families of Lithuanian magnates. The first part of the work presents the problems of the publishing of Old Polish epistolography and the readerly circulation of early letters. On the basis of the correspondence of the Radziwiłł, Sapieha families and of Krzysztof Dorohostajski Monwid (1562–1615) one described the familyrelated subject matter engaged in the letters, focusing on such important events as: birth, baptism, marriage, married life, as well as death and funerals. Gratulatory letters and letters of condolence were usually similar, which was a result of the application of conventional expressions, whereas the correspondence which accompanied wooing and the contraction of marriages manifested specific, untypical solutions and an individual approach of the senders. The chapter which presents the exchange of letters between brothers-inlaw who were in a feud is focused on the writings of Krzysztof Radziwiłł (1585–1640) and Lew Sapieha (1557–1633), who commented upon the decision of the king associate with the appointment of the function of the grand hetman of Lithuania. By making accusations, the correspondents rejoined and discussed their family relations. The claims which were laid in reference to the question of the inheritance of the brother of his second wife Zofia were featured immediately in Krzysztof Dorohostajski’s letters to Janusz (1579–1620) and to Krzysztof Radziwiłł. A different nature is manifested by carefully composed Latin letters of Janusz Radziwiłł (1612–1655) and Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, which presented the relations between the Calvinist and the Jesuit. Piotr Kochlewski’s correspondence (d. 1646), a representative of Krzysztof Radziwiłł in Kiejdany, features detailed information about various aspects of the life of the city. The second part of the work discusses occasional works devoted to Lithuanian magnates. The considerations, which are preceded by remarks about the editorship of occasional literature, focus on the verse commentaries devoted to the candidates to the Polish throne during the period of the third interregnum. To mark this occasion, an oration was written by Krzysztof Radziwiłł Piorun (1547–1603), and the verse “Lament…” was written by Krzysztof Dorohostajski. Monwid was described as a valiant soldier, who made his name in the assault on Smoleńsk in 1611. Many occasional texts were written in connection to births, marriage ceremonies and the funerals of magnates; they feature the genological form of a lament, a bucolic, a genethliacon, an epithalamium, an epitaph etc. The poems which were written after Krzysztof Radziwiłł’s death and which heretofore remained unknown were found in the manuscripts which are currently located in Lwów (Bavorovianum) and in the Central Library in Rotterdam. The Lithuanian magnates were also presented in a negative light. It mainly the Radziwiłł who were lampooned – Krzysztof, as the alleged instigator of the Wilno riot in 1639, and his son Janusz, as a traitor during the Swedish deluge and the Moscow raid.

Animal - Language - Emotions. Discourses and narratives

Zwierzę – Język – Emocje. Dyskursy i narracje

Author(s): / Language(s): English,Russian,Polish

Polish literature in the world: Vol. 7: Reportage in the world, the worldliness of reportage

Literatura polska w świecie. T. 7: Reportaż w świecie światowość reportażu

Author(s): / Language(s): Polish

Readings in Time

Lektury w czasie

Author(s): Paweł Majerski / Language(s): Polish

The author of the book is interested in the ways and crossroads of contemporary poetry, the place where writers meet, and so do critics who read poems and prose committed to paper by others with greater or lesser satisfaction, with revelation or jealousy of their imagination. When new books – testimonies of the author’s readiness to present, to meet the “other,” to be present – are published, it is the literary critics who play their part, who fulfil their mission consistently and systematically or who reach for another book without any sense of mission or obligation, “extemporaneously.” A large part of Readings in Time concerns texts devoted to critical works and – following various methodological approaches today – to historical and literary ones. The texts selected for publication were published between 1993 and 2017, immediately after the publication of the books. It was important to approach them from the required reading perspective, as the material for later systematization. Reviews and critical commentaries were published in “Nowe Książki,” “Śląsk,” “FA-art,” “Twórczość,” “Kwartalnik Artystyczny,” “Opcja,” “Autograf,” “Akant,” and “Kursywa.” The author writes with conviction: here are the “writers” and “me” at the time, here am “I” and the “writers” right now.Th e section devoted to poetry opens with a commentary on an anthology juxtaposing poems by Young Poland’s poetesses, while the section devoted to criticism – with a text on cultural (im)maturity, which discusses a book by Ewa Paczoska, a researcher reviving positivist dilemmas, “images of the past,” most broadly speaking – the epoch-making testimonies of identity. The first part of the book closes with a review of a volume by Primož Čučnik, a poet, an observer of the constant “becoming of things,” and the second part with a review of a thematic (the issue of time) monograph by Aleksandra Zasępa on poems by Krystyna Miłobędzka, whose poetry is “here and now,” in which “the presentation of the present time, focused on active living in the present moment” prevails. The afore-indicated textual frames comprise reviews of books by reflexive poets, existentialists, “metapoetic” authors, passive and active participants of our everyday life. The poetic part features commentaries on the anthology of Coś własnego (Something Owned) and a volume related to Orientacja Po-etycka Hybrydy (a group of poets calling themselves “Hybrids”) by Andrzej K. Waśkiewicz (the author composed a lyrical treatise on the presence within the space of the Paradox of Great History, he ran the “calculus of loneliness”). The poets of “Hybrids” asked about the status of our presence, about the durability and appearances of certainty; they continued to count on the effectiveness of “cognitive verification.” Among those presented in the book, one can find: Krzysztof Karasek, Janusz Szuber, Kazimierz Hoffman, Piotr Matywiecki, Piotr Sommer, Aleksandra Olędzka-Frybesowa, Anna Frajlich, Małgorzata Baranowska. The sets of commentaries contain “subchapters” titled Siedem lektur (Seven Readings) and Wiersze ze Śląska (Poems from Silesia). The first one contains, inter alia, reviews of volumes by Krzysztof Lisowski, Józef Fert and Piotr Cielesz, in which we can hear eschatological tones and discern lyrical revisions to the theme of memory. The second set of commentaries opens with a geographical key: in the “Silesian” fragment of the book – with a view to the most ordinary and seemingly “festive” events, intensified emotions, limits of certainty and doubt – poems by Jola Trela, Ryszard Chłopek, Robert Rybicki, Adam Pluszka, Marian Kisiel, Barbara Gruszka-Zych, and Andrzej Szuba are discussed. The author of the book writes about time, memory, contemplation, impressions, and intellectual settlements. The critics and researchers of literature, who are introduced in the second part of Readings in Time through records from the interwar and post-war periods, made their way through the difficult moments of history (here, inter alia, one can find sketches about the publications concerning Zofia Nałkowska, the Paris of experimental poets called Skamandrites, Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, Aleksander Wat, the avant-garde, Stanisław Lem, Zbigniew Herbert, Janusz Szuber, about editions of Władysław Broniewski’s Pamiętnik (Diary) and Publicystyka (Journalistic Pieces) divulging the “private” and “official” faces of their author). here are also notes on literary criticism books by Jan Tomkowski, Marian Kisiel, Karol Maliszewski, and Dariusz Nowacki. Readings in Time does not establish a canon – either private or, even more so, “universal,” with the conviction that a record of norms and standards is necessary, although the value and durability of opinions is also at stake here. These are simply testimonies of reading, reports, evidence of scrutinizing texts. In the scientific works and popular science source base, the author appreciates searching for (discovering) contexts, preparing subsequent literary panoramas of the modern day.

Women’s Neo-fantastic Writing of Anne Duguël

Le néofantastique féminin d’Anne Duguël

Author(s): Agnieszka Loska / Language(s): French

Keywords: Anne Duguël; feminine neofantastic; Belgian fantastic; women’s studies

The monograph Le néofantastique féminin d’Anne Duguël is an attempt to show the feminine aspect of the prose written by Anne Duguël (1945–2015), a representative of Belgian neo-fantastic literature. Chapter one provides theoretical reflections on fantastic literature and shows difficulties in defining this genre as well as in delineating its fixed boundaries. The reflections serve as a point of departure in the analysis of Anne Duguël’s innovative and original works, provided in further parts of the book. The chapter also presents Anne Duguël’s biography and writing in the context of the profiles of the 20th-century prominent French-speaking women writers practising this literary genre. Referring to the concept of écriture féminine, the last section of the chapter tries to answer the question whether Duguël’s oeuvre can be regarded as feminine and hence analysed accordingly. Chapter two is devoted to the protagonist of Duguël’s works of fantastic literature. The chapter thus provides the characteristics of the female figure and a comparison between her and the male protagonist of classic works of fantastic literature, as well as the narrative analysis which shows the relations between narration and the feminine themes in Duguël’s works. Moreover, the chapter depicts the influence of the reader’s gender in the reception of neo-fantastic works of the writer. Chapter three focuses on the fantastic phenomenon, which in Duguël’s works is closely connected with the female figure and her femininity. The research includes: space-time frame, fantastic objects, female anxiogenic figures, such as a ghost or a vampire, as well as the motif of metamorphosis. The chapter provides an outline on how Duguël enriches motifs derived from classic works of fantastic literature with a feminine element. The last part of the monograph emphasizes the characteristics pertinent to Anne Duguël’s works, and therefore inscribes them in the manner the writer modifies modern fantastic literature by introducing an entirely new, hitherto unknown category, which is women’s neo-fantastic writing. The addenda contain a chronological list of Duguël’s neo-fantastic works, as well as biographical notes of contemporary Belgian and French women writers who represent neo-fantastic literature.

Polish prose of the 20th century. Reviews and interpretations. Volume 1

Proza polska XX wieku. Przeglądy i interpretacje. Tom 1

Author(s): / Language(s): Polish

Grażyna Maroszczuk, assistant professor at the Department of Contemporary Literature of the Ireneusz Opacki Institute of Polish Literature of the University of Silesia. Literary historian. // The area of the author's research interests is determined by the autobiographical issues of contemporary prose and paraliterary texts. A researcher of the 20th and 21st century prose, in her studies she asks about the existential dimension of literature, the experience of fear recorded in prose, and the prose testimonies of persistence in the face of the violence of History, in the face of death. // She published the books Discourse and stories. About novels by Andrzej Szczypiorski (Katowice 2004) and Testimonies - talks - creations. In the circle of interlocutionary texts (Katowice 2012). Co-editor of the lexicon Pisma Kultury w Polsce after 1989 (Katowice 2010), author of articles and dissertations in collective works. [04.2017]