O literaturoznawczym profesjonalizmie, etyce badacza i kłopotach z terminologią rozmawiają prof. Teresa Walas, prof. Henryk Markiewicz, prof. Michał Paweł Markowski, prof. Ryszard Nycz i dr Tomasz Kunz

The paper focuses on the history and current situation of the discipline of comparative literature, particularly on the question of interdisciplinarity and comparative literary studies. A general discussion on interdisciplinarity (as a concept, a methodology, a way of thinking) leads to the conclusion that there are several branches of comparative literature. Consequently, in the developing fi eld of comparative literature three areas can be distinguished: „traditional” comparative literature, interdisciplinary comparative literature, and comparative cultural studies. Finally, the author concludes that the discipline of comparative literature is an advantageous approach for the study of literature and culture.

The essay Symploke as a figure of mimesis in Plato’s philosophy is an attempt to reconstruct two different models of mimesis in Plato’s thought. The first model (Repulic) is ontological and based on the notion of truth as manifestation of real being (eidos or physis). Here, a copy or imitation is but a non-being, an appearance, or „a weak being” that participates in the true being only to a very small extent. The second model (The Sophist) is epistemological and based on the notion of truth as resemblance between an object and a copy. Here, an image is good if it is perfectly similar to the object it represents. Both models of mimesis cannot be treated separately. Their subtle interpenetration can be seen in the Platonic figure of symploke (a „plexus”) from The Sophist, in which being and non-being, truthfulness and falsity unexpectedly show their paradoxical unity.

The essay is devoted to a very specific and interesting example of intersemiotical link between the scene of the Senator’s ball in the third part of „Dziady” by A. Mickiewicz and „Don Giovanni” by W. A. Mozart. Analysis of some elements of the opera included by Mickiewicz in his text, in the way of ‘bricolage’, leads to the conclusion that the similarities in both compositions are not restricted to the construction level, but they also seem to have ideological consequences which have an impact on the overall force of the work by Mickiewicz. Its connection with Mozart’s and da Ponte’s work, even if visible in just a few parts of „Dziady”, is a guide to the simultaneous reading of both texts. This read develops their interpretation and understanding as well as expresses the idea of providence present in Mozart’s and Mickiewicz’s masterpieces.

Some records from Andersen’s journeys to Italy, included in his En Digters Bazar (A Poet’s Bazaar, 1842), are worth reading as examples of Italian travel writing set in a wider context of literature of the Romantic period (from Goethe and Madame de Staël to E.T.A. Hoffmann and Heinrich Heine). Furthermore, the text deserves attention because of the multiple literary genres used (description, anecdote, adventure story-telling, dialogue, impression, fairy tale, lyrical fragments and reportages). Its apparently chaotic form is partially explained by the title of the book, where the term „bazaar” indicates the variety and diversity of proposed plots and subjects. Within these plots and subjects there is enough place for lyrical exaltation and journalistic terseness. Finally, the schema of the Italian travel proves to be a frame which permits the narrator to create many-sided vision of Italy which is independent of conventional standards.

The article concerns Czesław Miłosz’s late poetry which contains a few poems dedicated to old photographs (from XIX and beginning of XX century). Active dialogue which Miłosz displays in his works runs symmetrically and paralle. On the one hand Miłosz admiring feminine beauty (Piękna nieznajoma) or condemning bloodthirsty crowd (Człowiek-Mucha) yields subjective temptations which uncovers his own illusions. On the other hand: when he presents photos of dead persons (Mój dziadek Zygmunt Kunat, Anka, Fotografi a) he in fact describes the experience of epiphany which leads him to the truth.

Epiphany belongs to the most common themes of literary criticism concerning Czesław Miłosz’s poetic work. The interpreters accentuate that: 1. the importace of the epiphanical experience lies in the momentary character of it (Marian Stala); 2. the poetry brings us in the epiphany to the religious sublimation (Jan Błoński); 3. the epiphany is a trope of reality, a mark of presence (Ryszard Nycz). In the opinion of Miłosz, epiphany is the way to find God between the things around us. The connection of epiphany and botanic is based on the memories of the poet, who many times has spoken about his fascination for the plants world. Memory – ilumination – epiphany is the typical triad for Miłosz’s poetry. The poetic imagination in epiphanic poems is founded upon clear visualization of details, which offers Miłosz not only a sentimental comeback, but also the sense of the artistic fulfi lment

The article reconstructs „a gesture of laughter” in the literature of the Second Polish Republic. It reminds that in the beginning of 20’s in the 20th century laughter was considered by Polish writers (inspired by Stanisław Brzozowski and some other thinkers of Young Poland) as a gesture of cultural and antropological vitality and modernity. This is the reason why laughter was treated as a necessary element of Polish modern culture. A good example of such a thinking is not only the poetry of Kazimierz Wierzyński and of poets of Skamander group, but also a literature of Polish futurism, or short stories of Eugeniusz Małaczewski. But by the end of 20’s, laughter began to upset Polish writers. Aleksander Wat, Witold Gombrowicz, Bolesław Leśmian and Jerzy Stempowski showed ambivalent, destrucitive, inhuman or even nihilistic power of laughter. This ambivalent attitude of Polish writers to the gesture of laughter is typical by the end of 30’s but also in the afterwar Polish literature.

This article analyses one of Schulz’s most famous stories which is based on an ancient symbol of the Book. The Book can be understood as the refl ection of an archaic myth or as a dream about the state of androgyne, a sign of the lost childhood and a metaphor of the Saint Spirit. The protagonist rejects the Bible as a false source of the revelation and finds the illumination in an old newspaper. A journalist rhetoric overlaps the biblical stylization; the contrast between them shows that every style is inadequate. The illumination cannot find it’s expression, it’s hidden sense is lost. The protagonist discovers that the essence of the human condition is the infi nite journey between the signs. The article presents multiple interpretations of the story but its aim remains on at developing a relatively new one. The Book symbolizes the absence of the Absolute. Dispersed in a process of verbalisation, the Absolute vanishes between multiple languages. The elusive Ultimate Sense turns into myth. This is a very modernist trait of Schulz’s literature. His inquiries for a Hidden Rule appear futile yet he continues searching for it. He wants to reach the truth of Logos but instead fi nds himself imprisoned in the mumble of countless stories.

Recenzja ksiązki Z. Baumana, Płynna nowoczesność, przeł. T. Kunz, Kraków 2006

Recenzja książki F. Ziejki, Miasto poetów. Studia i szkice, Kraków 2005.

Recenzja książki T. Kunza, Strategie negatywne w poezji Tadeusza Różewicza. Od poetyki tekstu do poetyki lektury, Kraków 2005

Recenzja książki „Kartografowie dziwnych podróży”. Wypisy z polskiej krytyki literackiej XX wieku, red. i wstęp M. Wyka, oprac. K. Biedrzycki, J. Fazan, D. Kozicka, M. Urbanowski, J. Zach, Kraków 2004, s. 620.