Abstrakt: | The book consists of analyses devoted to several themes in Jacek
Kaczmarski’s work, which, despite their diversity in terms of subject matter and
time of creation, can be treated as an expression of various types of struggle –
with the political system, with God, with artistic and biographical inspirations.
The term “selected struggles” contained in the subtitle underlines not only the
fact that the set of possible problems remains open, but also the fact that Kaczmarski
deliberately initiated such multiple struggles, which would correspond
to the idea of a bard as a contester and a rebel.
In the first part (System [System]), on the example of the reception of the
piece Mury [Walls], the subject of analysis is the legitimacy of using the term
“bard” in relation to Kaczmarski, and the differences between recognising this
artist as bard and treating him as the exponent of beliefs of only one political option.
After resolving the issue of the author’s appropriation by “Solidarity”, an
example of more sophisticated expression of opposition to the system – through
the use of the conceptual metaphor SYSTEM is a SCHOOL (among others, in
texts such as Przedszkole [Kindergarten] or Nasza Klasa [Our Class]) – is being
reflected upon.
The second part of the book, entitled Bóg [God], contains interpretations
devoted to works that are crucial for various stages of the difficult relationship
with God – from the dispute (Walka Jakuba z aniołem [Jacob’s Fight with an Angel]),
through the search for a way of reconciliation (Konfesjonał [Confessional]),
to the difficult coexistence, the condition of which is the creation of a human
image of God other than that of the Old Testament (Śniadanie z Bogiem [Breakfast
with God]). The chapter which is focused on the text Diabeł mój [My Devil]
presents elements of the previously discussed stages of struggle with God that
occur within one song.
The third part is entitled Inspiracje [Inspirations] and presents selected
examples of Kaczmarski’s use of existential experience and existing texts of culture
and their processing in a creative way. The chapter “Sposób z refrenkiem”,
czyli o śpiewanej “historii literatury” [“A method with a chorus”, or about the sung
“history of literature”], shows how Kaczmarski’s artistic output can be written
into various concepts of practicing the history of literature (in its popularizing version). Między muzą a schematem. O „Testamencie ’95” [Between muse and schema.
On „Testament ’95”] is an analysis of one genre, the will, as an example of
what Kaczmarski can do with the existing genological model. In the chapter
Choroba twórcy – tworzywem tekstu [Creator’ Illness as the Material of the Text],
the experience of disease is transformed into an artistic message, and the short
text Żydzi, masoni i (w zastępstwie cyklistów) bard [Jews, Masons and (in place of
cyclists) the bard] proves that the same experience can simultaneously be an
inspiration for further attempts to influence society with a song.
The opponents change in Kaczmarski’s works, but the permanent features
of his artistic legacy are social, existential, creative resistance, defiance, standing
in opposition to that which upsets and entering into a dialogue with that which
inspires. The struggles that appear in these texts do not end with the death of
the author; they constantly provoke new interpretations, and taking up new
readings becomes part of other struggles – for the memory of Kaczmarski and
his work, so susceptible to appropriation and simplification. |