Chwile i eony : obrazy czasu w polskiej poezji drugiej połowy XX wieku

Abstract

The book revolves around the question of time as a theme and as an image in Polish poetry of the latter half of the 20th century. The poems analysed expose the experience of time as felt by man in the age of chronocentrism. Time is depicted as a means of expression and an object of representation; the poems reveal its presence on the meta-language level as well as in the construction of the lyrical chronotope both of which illustrate such phenomena as "compression of time", "non-time of life" (niedoczas życia), and acceleration. All of the above inevitably constitute the experience of man at the turn of the century. The question of time, even though ever-present in poetry, has recently become a particularly expansive theme and often constitutes the lyrical protagonist of the poems presented. Until recently considered as a separate constituent of poetry time has not undergone in-depth analysis - following Paul Celan's claim a poem was treated as a testimony of "radical present" or "punctual present" (punktuelle Gegemvarf). According to Roman Ingarden, time constitutes "apparent present" as it reflects "the instantaneity of experience, a temporary content of human mind", and remains perpetually dominated by the present. The analysis and interpretation of particular poems as presented in the book aims at describing the most important features of lyrical time (such as the "poetic stretching of time", "freezing" it in a poem, complicated relationships between past and presence as a background for the current moment, density of time-producing functors, etc.). It also highlights various kinds of time metaphors (e.g. technologising, animalising, reifying and teriomorphic) and demonstrates crucial strategies of time-image for mation and ways of thematizing and introducing time, all typical for the poetry of the turn of the century. The book consists of three sections preceded by an introduction presenting crucial theoretical views concerning the notion of time in poetry and familiarising the reader with the approaches to the notion of temporality as demonstrated by Polish poets of the latter part of the 20th century. The first section, Compression of Time, concentrates on time's temporal perspective and a sense of existence exposed to the pressures of acceleration in the age of chronocentrism in which time is no longer measured in seconds but in nanoseconds, units so small that until recently indivisible. This part is devoted to the interpretation of these poems by Czeslaw Milosz, Wisława Szymborska, Adam Zagajewski, Bronislaw Maj, Urszula Koziol, Bronislaw Baran, Aleksander Rybczyński and Stefan Szczyglowski which expose the paradoxes of acceleration, offer poetic interpretation of time's relativity and deal with the questions of the influence of memory upon the experience of the present. Of particular importance here are Husserl's and Heidegger's theories of retention as well as Nietzsche's concepts of resentment and reaffirmation. Poems interpreted in this section focus on the experience of the moment as presented in the 20lh century poetry which is compared with poetry of the romantics and the impressionists. The comparison reveals fundamental differences in the experience of time in both periods. The first part also touches upon a number of meta-poetic issues emerging from the poems which problematize the influence of the commonlyfelt time pressure upon the shape of the poem and upon art's general capability to capture the moment in the macrocosm of the poem and its "eternal now". While the departure point here is inspired by the claim that a poem is capable of "freezing time", both the poems analysed and a number of philosophers seem to be of a different opinion. The interpretative background is informed by philosophy: the poems are vividly rooted in the approach to the notion of time as advocated by E. Kant, M. Heidegger, E. Husserl, E. Levinas and F. Nietzsche as well as by a number of other philosophers whose concepts are referred to as analytical and interpretative tools. Following J. Bańka's theory of recentivism the book identifies and utilises the notion of nanomoment - a flashing event in time appearing to the consciousness in recens, an event whose momentary micro-structure disrupts the continuity between past, present and future. The section also offers a post-modern reading of the experience of time in A. Rybczyński's poetry taking as an interpretative background a number of J. Derrida's and F. Jameson's ideas. The second section of the book, Eons and Apokatastasis concentrates on the poems presenting the opposite aspect of time - eternity. The poems interpreted here are those which invite metaphysical concepts of time and are inspired by the "hope for apokatastasis", visions of "centuries of eternity" opening after one's death. This section is preoccupied with the difference between time, eon and eternity from the theological and theosophical perspective. Analysed are those poems by Cz. Milosz, Z. Herbert and W. Oszajca which deal with the issues of eons, apokatastasis, universal salvation and return to Logos in accordance with the semper similis est finis initiis thesis. The interpretative context for Herbert's poems is provided by J. Slowacki's mystical works from the genesis system period. Oszajca's poems' interpretation is mainly based on the idea of apokatastasis according to Origen whose theory was first condemned by the Church in 553 with fifteen anathemas and then, fourteen centuries later, restored by the Second Vatican Council. Appendix contains two "monographic" interpretations of the problem of time as approached in the works of one poet. The first one presents different methods of constructing and thematizing chronos (e.g. tempus devorans, metaphors of historical time, elegiac depictions of time) while the second one reveals the counter-linear play on chronotope. The book's character remains predominantly interpretative as it concentrates on these late 20th century Polish poems which vividly depict the experience of time by contemporary man exposed to its pressure. Of particular significance are poems which contemplate the idea of taming time, setting oneself free from " the trauma of temporality" and demonstrate man's unequal struggle with time which eventually turns out to be a losing battle. The poetry in question undoubtedly touches upon one of the most important contemporary syndromes, that of being struck by time, the unstoppable race against it and a desperate attempt to control the overwhelming pace of life and transience. Following the sensation of the "non-time of life" contemporary poets have worked out their own methods of dealing with time and playing with the lyrical clironotope which this book presents and thoroughly analyses.