The poet discovers sources (of the self ) : Adam Zagajewski and Charles Taylor

The article shows Adam Zagajewski’s relationship with Charles Taylor’s thought. The author argues that the poet’s dialogue with the philosopher is not limited to quotations and direct references but is also revealed at a deeper level. Based on Zagajewski’s essays and interviews, the author concludes that the poet studied "Sources of the Self" and "The Ethics of Authenticity", and probably also drew on later works dealing with the condition of religion in a disenchanted world ("A Catholic Modernity?" and "A Secular Age"). Zagajewski borrowed from Taylor’s historical argument about the genealogy of modern identity. He also alluded to the philosopher’s diagnoses of the Enlightenment-Romantic lineage of modern Europeans and his conviction that the struggle for more demanding forms of spiritual life is preserved. The most direct traces of the conversation with Taylor can be found in the essays from "The Defense of Ardor". The author suggests that Zagajewski also alludes to Taylor’s diagnoses in poems (e.g., "Tierra del Fuego", "Senza flash", and "The Kingfisher"), in which the motifs of spiritual lobotomy and the epiphanic power of poetry appear

„Spraw, żebyś był”.

Z Elżbietą Wittlin-Lipton rozmawia Łukasz Tischne

Sekrety literatury i głód wtajemniczenia

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.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

Back to the (origin of) things

The review discusses the book by Edyta Sołtys-Lewandowska O "ocalającej nieporządek rzeczy" polskiej poezji metafizycznej i religijnej drugiej połowy XX wieku i początków XXI wieku, which is aimed at describing contemporary Polish poetry in terms of its religious/metaphysical quests. Sołtys-Lewandowska distinguishes two types of poetry, namely, religious and metaphysical. The first type refers to the poems which depict a personal relationship with God; the second implies a premonition of an outer reality which transcends the limits of human cognition. Sołtys-Lewandowska interprets a variety of poems. She analyzes what she calls the "sacralization" and the "desacralization" effects, describes the figures of God (especially the figure of Father and Lord) and argues that contemporary Polish poetry may be interpreted as an expression of a “return of religion”. The reviewer appreciates the original idea of the book but criticizes the too broad scope of the project which results in very general conclusions. He also disagrees with some typological concepts which don’t seem to be really consistent and helpful

"Solaris", Grabiński and Schopenhauer : a journey to the sources of Lem’s imagination

"Solaris" należy do kanonu gatunku fantastyki naukowej, a ściśle do jej wersji wykorzystującej motyw kontaktu z obcym. Choć ma już przeszło 60 lat, nie przestaje fascynować kolejnych pokoleń czytelników. Czy wynika to z faktu, że otacza ją nimb nowoczesności i postępu technologicznego? Problem podboju kosmosu i zgłębiania jego tajemnic wciąż należy do kategorii fantastyki naukowej, postrzeganej jako namysł nad scenariuszami przyszłości. Sprawa jest jednak bardziej złożona, bo powieść jest jednocześnie zanurzona w futurologii i "retro". W tekście pojawiają się zaskakujące inspiracje, które karmiły wyobraźnię Lema - opowiadanie Stefana Grabińskiego "Kochanka Szamoty" oraz niektóre filozoficzne idee Arthura Schopenhauera. Wpływy te wydają się zaskakujące, ponieważ nie pasują do popularnego wizerunku Lema jako zwolennika naturalizmu filozoficznego i antyromantycznego "mózgowca". Autor sugeruje, że "Solaris" odniosło sukces, ponieważ jest jednocześnie futurystyczne i dobrze zakorzenione w tradycji."Solaris" belongs to the canon of the science fiction genre, and strictly speaking to its subgenre that uses the motif of encounter/contact with an alien. Although it is already 60 years old, it does not cease to fascinate successive generations of readers. Could it be due to the fact that it is surrounded by the nimbus of modernity and technological advancements? The problem of conquering the cosmos and penetrating its mysteries still belongs to the category of science fiction, seen as a reflection on the possible scenarios of the future. The issue, however, is more complex, because the novel is at the same time immersed in futurology, and ‘retro’. The text highlights some surprising inspirations that fuelled Lem’s imagination - a short story by Stefan Grabiński "Szamota’s Mistress" and some philosophical ideas by Arthur Schopenhauer. Such influences seem surprising because they do not fit the popular image of Lem as an advocate of philosophical naturalism and a ‘cerebral’, anti-Romantic artist. The author suggests, that "Solaris" is so successful because it is both futuristic and well-rooted in tradition

Odmiany doświadczenia religijnego w Soli ziemi Józefa Wittlina

The aim of the article is to present the individual and intense experience of sensing the world, whose account can be found in the novel Salt of the Earth. The term “religious experience” was taken from William James. The author of the article first mentions the interpretative difficulties connected with the structural irony, which calls into question the statements verbalized in the novel. Taking into account this complexity, he points out four elements which justify talking about a religious experience in the Salt of the Earth. Firstly, he points up the title, which evokes a religious perception of the world and assumes a response to a calling which comes from God. Secondly, he refers to the Prologue (which does not contain structural irony), which contains the motif of war as a blasphemy. Thirdly, he analyses those passages in which the narrator weakens their distance towards Piotr Niewia­domski’s point of view and favourably assumes the magical interpretation of natural phenomena. Lastly, he refers to the Christian-Orphic-Hutsul motif of the immortality of the soul and contact with the dead