Melancholia jako sposób na szczęście w twórczości Marka Bieńczyka

Abstract

The article is an attempt to distinguish between two similar concepts, that is, melancholy and depression. In her work Illness as Metaphor, Susan Sontag highlights differences between these two concepts in culture. Marek Bieńczyk accepts a Romantic idea of melancholy as it is associated with spiritual creation. In melancholy happiness is seen through a time stopped that brings to mind a mythological idyll. Bieńczyk perceives happiness in Indian rituals, for instance in the rhythmical, elliptical paddling a canoe. Indian characters are presented as if they were flying to their fortunate hunting grounds. The ellipsis of evidence that involves happiness in life can be read by Bieńczyk from people’s faces and gestures.