The author of the textological sketch studies the successive editions of Wacław Berent’s “Ozimina (Winter Corn)”. The first edition dated 1911 (as a matter of fact – end of 1910) was wrongly edited (e.g. accumulation of typographical errors as “samnambula,” though the same page contains the proper “somnambula [insomnia]” or “brewiona” instead of “bierwiona [log of wood]” etc.); the number of errors exceeds one hundred. The author of the article suggests a number of corrections to the novel’s text, e.g. he suggests a change of “komin [chimney]” into “kominek [fire place]” (as the fire place, not the chimney is the issue here), “siepały” (non-reflexive “struggled”) would be “siepały się” (reflexive ”struggled”) and “druki drohomilskie [Drohomil prints]” – “druki dobromilskie [Dobromil prints]”.
The article deals with the topic of degeneration, thereby bringing back the name Max Nordau for reflection on the literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Nordau’s writings are not, however, the subject of autonomous reflection or ideological reconstruction here. The aim is to present a model of the attitude stigmatizing everything that the author of Entartung considered a disease. Branding literature and art as degenerate meets with the crisis of the late nineteenth century – partly envisaging this crisis, partly aggravating it. In this perspective – tracing the signs of degeneration not following Nordau, but referring to his diagnoses – I read selected works of H.G. Wells, Wacław Berent, Jerzy Żuławski, and Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. The theme of degeneration itself is differently functionalized and metaphorized in their writings. Common for them appears to be a pessimistic attitude to evolution as in fact involution, increasing morbidity, bestiality, misfortune.
The article is an interpretation of Wacław Berent’s novel Fachowiec as an account of the experience of modernity. Bringing into focus the way in which the protagonist experiences reality, and which is reflected in a first-person narration, makes it possible to present his attitude towards the changes in the material, social and cultural reality around him. This analysis shows that his subjective perception of the flow of time and his perception of the urban and industrial space were related to a feeling of emptiness, feeling of oppression and boredom, which had a negative effect on the construction of his identity.
PL
Artykuł stanowi interpretację powieści Wacława Berenta pt. Fachowiec jako zapisu doświadczenia nowoczesności. Skupienie uwagi na przedstawionym w pierwszoosobowej narracji sposobie przeżywania głównego bohatera umożliwiło określenie, w jaki sposób ustosunkowywał się on do zmian zachodzących w otaczającej go rzeczywistości materialnej, społecznej i kulturowej. Analiza ta pozwoliła pokazać, że jego subiektywne postrzeganie upływu czasu oraz przestrzeni miejskiej i fabrycznej wiązało się z odczuciem pustki, wykorzenienia, przytłoczenia i nudy, które miały negatywny skutek dla konstrukcji tożsamości protagonisty.
JavaScript jest wyłączony w Twojej przeglądarce internetowej. Włącz go, a następnie odśwież stronę, aby móc w pełni z niej korzystać.