„Jak wyprowadzić z ruin ludzi” – o sensie poezji po „Drugiej Apokalipsie”. O kilku utworach Zbigniewa Herberta

Journal Title: Prace Literaturoznawcze - Year 2017, Vol 5, Issue 5

Abstract

After the Second World War, discussions erupted concerning the character and legitimacy of art, including poetry. The famous line by Theodore Adorno, saying that writing poetry after Auschwitz is impossible, was frequently debated. However, should the silence of poetry be the answer to genocide? Polish poets also joined this international discussion. The painful paradox was most prominently displayed by the attitude of Tadeusz Różewicz, who simultaneously wrote and emphasized the moral ambiguity of “writing poems after Oświęcim”. He posited that the cultural inheritance did not prevent the moral and material ruin, and if so, then the death of fundamental values should be accompanied by the complete collapse of the higher human activities that are based on these values. Every poem that emerges after this upheaval of the world thus far participates in the creation of falsehood; it is another element upholding the appearances that everything is the same as it once was. This poet of the second half of the twentieth century stood in a morally ambiguous position, allowing himself a voice when so many people had been deprived of their own voice. Tadeusz Różewicz, noting the “death of poetry”, did not put down his pen. Zbigniew Herbert takes a completely different stance on this issue. The purpose of this study is the analysis of works that provide insight into Zbigniew Herbert’s thoughts on the subject of the role of art. This examination focuses on Herbert’s work from the 1950s (his first two collections: Chord of Light and Hermes, Dog and Star).

Authors and Affiliations

Magdalena Filipczuk, Michał Filipczuk

Keywords

Related Articles

Działalność literacka, wydawnicza i społeczno-oświatowa Andrzeja Samulowskiego (1840-1928)

The sketch aims at presenting patriotic attitude of Andrzej Samulowski, who was educational activist, bookseller, publisher and poet, basing on the studies, which have been published so far. He was the most committed War...

Kolistość losów człowieka w powieści Jerzego Pietrkiewicza Inner Circle

In Jerzy Pietrkiewicz’s novel Inner Circle (1966) [Wewnętrzne koło] the author presents the problem of human loneliness. The book consists of three separate parts that refer respectively to the past, the present and pote...

Elementy powieści postmodernistycznej w Magu Johna Fowlesa

The purpose of the article is to prove that The Magus, despite being quite traditional in its form, has a lot of features of a postmodernist novel. The author begins with explaining the term postmodernism and the most ch...

Lubuskie panopticum Janusza Olczaka, czyli wyczerpane inspiracje pojałtańskiej deterytoryzacji (Szyld pisany antykwą)

The aim of this article is scientific research, in what way in Polish literature from the 70. of XX thoughts about describtion of experience of dislocation after Jałta was being rebuilt. We analised Janusz Olczak’s nove...

Co by było, gdybym był Ignacym Rzeckim? O roli monologu wewnętrznego podczas pierwszych prób scenicznych

The aim of this article is to discuss the issue of the internal monologue in the process of the actor’s self-improvement and further in his work on a role. The studies which are analyzed in this paper have been prepared...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP300253
  • DOI -
  • Views 39
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Magdalena Filipczuk, Michał Filipczuk (2017). „Jak wyprowadzić z ruin ludzi” – o sensie poezji po „Drugiej Apokalipsie”. O kilku utworach Zbigniewa Herberta. Prace Literaturoznawcze, 5(5), 107-122. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-300253