Ja, Eurypides. Wywiady, wypowiedzi i autokomentarze z lat 1957 - 1988

Abstract

The book I, Euripides presents a wide array of interviews, records of meetings, and remembrances of Teodor Parnicki, published in press from 1957 to 1988. They are programmatic, critical, and autobiographical in character, and they reveal a very interesting image of literary life in the Polish People’s Republic. The texts collected in the book enable a better understanding of the reformulation of the poetics of the historical novel, a goal Parnicki accomplished in the 1950s and 1960s. They also show the turn toward experimental prose in the author’s writings in the subsequent decade and explain Parnicki’s philosophical, theological, and literary inspirations. Parnicki’s biography plays an essential role in both Parnicki’s literary and non-literary work. The changes over time in his autobiographical discourse, itself conditioned by changing political circumstances, are immensely interesting. The first texts gathered in this volume were published during Parnicki’s period in Mexico, when Instytut Wydawniczy PAX [PAX Publishing House] reprinted Aecjusz, ostatni Rzymianin [Aetius, the Last Roman] and Srebrne orły [Silver Eagles], both heralding Parnicki’s return to national literary life. In the 1960s and 1970s, Parnicki published over a dozen novels which were widely commented upon in the press and during literary sessions. The last text reprinted in the volume is a recording prepared by Parnicki for the event promoting his prose, which took place in Moscow several days before his death. By bringing together the texts written during three decades, it is possible to perceive changes in Parnicki’s attitude toward the historical novel and toward literature and the role of the writer. The book I, Euripides gathers texts which have not been published together in any anthology and were written by one of the most outstanding Polish prose writers of the twentieth century.