The Dialectics of Solitude, or “Death Is Not a Stake, But the White Cord”

The main purpose of this article is to conceptualise “the solitude” as one of the most relevant terms used in Ewa Lipska’s works. Brejnak claims that the experience of many Lipska’s literary characters/lyric egos is based on longing for existential freedom and self-sufficiency (which Friedrich Nietzsche described as “the Self” in his Thus Spoke Zarathustra). This pursuit that is unrealistic/unfeasible by definition consists of the dialectics of creation and destruction, transgression and introspection as well as an ambiguous desire to both exceed yourself and own the awareness of yourself (which was the main problem faced by Octavio Paz in his essay The Dialectic of Solitude). Brejnak attempts to prove the dialectic structure of Lipskas “solitude” on the basis of the analysis of selected works from the poetry collection Death Is Not at Stake, But the White Cord (1981). The main conclusion of the article is the ascertainment that “solitary” subjectivity, which Lipska problematizes in many works, can be called homo dialecticus. This notion used by Michel Foucault should be understood as a human being whose existence is insolvably problematic, suspended in the ontological and epistemological void – “in emergency mode”.

The main purpose of this article is to conceptualise “the solitude” as one of the most relevant terms used in Ewa Lipska’s works. Brejnak claims that the experience of many Lipska’s literary characters/lyric egos is based on longing for existential freedom and self-sufficiency (which Friedrich Nietzsche described as “the Self” in his Thus Spoke Zarathustra). This pursuit that is unrealistic/unfeasible by definition consists of the dialectics of creation and destruction, transgression and introspection as well as an ambiguous desire to both exceed yourself and own the awareness of yourself (which was the main problem faced by Octavio Paz in his essay The Dialectic of Solitude). Brejnak attempts to prove the dialectic structure of Lipskas “solitude” on the basis of the analysis of selected works from the poetry collection Death Is Not at Stake, But the White Cord (1981). The main conclusion of the article is the ascertainment that “solitary” subjectivity, which Lipska problematizes in many works, can be called homo dialecticus. This notion used by Michel Foucault should be understood as a human being whose existence is insolvably problematic, suspended in the ontological and epistemological void – “in emergency mode”.