The subject of reflections in this article is the phenomenon of topographic imagination of Sławomir Mrożek. Tracking traces of autobiographical places in the writer’s works, the author attempts to explain the reasons for his little interest in the geographic concrete as a literary material as well as to answer the question what functions these places fulfill in "Dziennik powrotu" [A Journal of Return] and "Baltazar. Autobiografia" [Balthasar. Autobiography]. In her opinion, both the scarce presence of autobiographic places in the earlier works of Mrożek, as well as their appearance in the works referred to, remains in connection with the problem of the identity of the writer, who throughout most of his life struggled with the sense of non-existence, and after the stroke he had to redefine himself and his place in the world.
The article is of an analytical nature. The author explains the specificity of a press interview and the type of communication that is characteristic of this genre. She presents the participants of the interaction: the journalist and the interview hero. Here an unusual interview with Sławomir Mrożek published in „Duży Format” (addition to „Gazeta Wyborcza”) is recalled. The author refers to this text as an example of a game and specific communicative strategy. This example and fragments of some other interviews with Mrożek prove that the hero of the interview influences the creative character of the interview itself.
The article discussed the literary representations of the communist labour camp in Jaworzno (1945–1956), particularly the short story by Seweryna Szmaglewska entitled Amnestia zastukała dobram (1956), a novel by Kazimierz Koźniewski entitled Bunt w więzieniu (1968), and a short story by Sławomir Mrożek entitled Jaworzno (1985). The discussion also applied to the problem of ideological entanglement of Polish literature and Polish writers (particularly during the Stalinist period), and the reasons for their (and the society’s) “overlooking” the obvious manifestations of communist terror. Its alleged “invisibility” was analogous to the “invisibility” of the crimes committed by the Nazis, allegedly not noticed by the citizens of the Third Reich. Among Polish writers, that analogy between Nazism and communism was indicated by Mrożek, while the similarities of both totalitarian systems were identified also by Szmaglewska and Czesław Miłosz.
The article concerns the literary representations of the Polish communist labor camp in Jaworzno (1945–1956), especially Seweryna Szmaglewska’s short story Amnestia zastukała do bram (1956, Amnesty knocked at the gates), Kazimierz Koźniewski’s novel Bunt w więzieniu (1968, Rebellion in the prisonhouse), and Sławomir Mrożek’s short story Jaworzno (1985). The object of the paper is also the problem of ideological involvement of Polish literature and writers (especially during the Stalinist period), the reasons for “overlooking” by them (and by Polish society) the obvious manifestations of communist terror. His alleged “invisibility” was analogous to the “invisibility” of crimes committed by the Nazis, allegedly unnoticed by the Third Reich citizens. Among Polish writers this analogy between Nazism and communism was exposed by Mrożek, the similarities between both totalitarianisms were perceived also by Szmaglewska and Czesław Miłosz.
Autor artykułu dowodzi, że żyjemy w epoce inflacji dzienników. Techniki antycznego i chrześcijańskiego sposobu nadawania życiu formy są dziś martwe. Dawne zasady nadawania życiu formy zostały przetworzone przez nową kulturę łączności „nowych mediów”. Ta teza jest egzemplifikowana historycznie poprzez przywołanie przykładu François Rabelais’go, Marcela Prousta oraz Georges’a Pereca. Na przekór tej tezie autor rekonstruuje dwie wielkie próby nadania sobie formy poprzez zapis: "Dzienniki" Witolda Gombrowicza oraz "Dzienniki" Sławomira Mrożka. Te dwie próby żywią się wspólnym przeświadczeniem: literatura i życie spełniają się w tylko w dziennikach. "Dzienniki" Franza Kafki umożliwiają autorowi lekturę "Dzienników" Gombrowicza, a "Dzienniki" Thomasa Manna pozwalają mu przemyśleć dzienniki Mrożka. Autor pracy stara się zrozumieć relację łączącą życie, pisanie i formę życia. Kluczowy dla autora jest trop etymologiczny: termin „dziennik” wywodzi się od łacińskiego wyrazu „diarium”, oznaczającego codzienne porcje pokarmu rozdawane żołnierzom. W tym sensie dziennik umożliwiałby życie, nie odwrotnie.
EN
The author of the article proves that we are now living in the era of diary’s inflation. Techniques of ancient and Christian modes of giving form to life are now dead. Old methods of giving form to life have been transformed by new culture unity of new media. This thesis is historically supported by recalling the examples of François Rabelais, Marcel Proust, and Georges Perec. Opposing this view, the author of the paper reconstructs two great attempts of transforming life into a text, namely Witold Gombrowicz’s “Diaries” and Sławomir Mrożek’s "Diaries", as the two works are joined by a common conviction that literature and life come true only in a diary. Franz Kafka’s "Diaries" offer the author a way of reading Gombrowicz’s “Diaries”, while Thomas Mann’s "Diaries" are helpful in reflecting on Sławomr Mrożek’s ones. In his paper, the author intends to understand the relationship between life, writing, and life form. The key etymological trope for the author is the word “diarium” from which the word “diary” is derived, and which means everyday food portions given to soldiers. In this sense, life is conditioned by a diary, not vice versa.
This article concerns secrets and secrecy in narrative works. The author, following in the footsteps of Auerbach and Kermode, argues that secrets should be understood as discontinuous places, gaps that demand to be filled. Auerbach and Kermode pointed to the biblical origins of the secret narrative. The latter in The Genesis of Secrecy. On the Interpretation of Narrative noted that secrets presuppose a mode of initiation – this was the case in the gospel of St Mark he analysed, addressed to believers. However, this sender’s intention also appears in strictly literary texts that operate the convention of the secret. This article refers to four twentieth-century Polish narrative texts that use elements of secrecy in different ways. Mrożek’s Moniza Clavier conceals the confabulatory character of the first-person statement, Miłosz’s Dolina Issy and Gombrowicz’s Kosmos conceal the deeply autobiographical character of the reflection on individual fate, while the narrative in Lem’s Solaris activates the possibility of ‘vertical reading’, referring to the concept of some absolute. Secrets in literary texts tend to be secularized versions of religious narratives addressed to the initiated, and the promise of an integration of discontinuous places attracts sceptics and believers.
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