Szkolne wyobcowanie. Inny Niziurski

Abstract

The subject of my dissertation is a "mature" reading of Edmund Niziurski's youth prose. Previous research on this literature has largely focused on its didactic aspect. I want to prove that such interpretations are insufficient and make it impossible to discover the more serious message Niziurski conveyed in his novels. In my research I refer to philosophy, sociology, psychology and even theology. Thanks to this cross-disciplinary approach, I discover completely new ways of interpreting the construction of the main characters and teachers. I apply research methods from the aforementioned areas to analyze in more depth the way of thinking and behavior of the chosen characters. In the first chapter, I focus on the reception of Niziurski's novels, both for teenagers and for adult readers. I also present the themes of adventure and school in this prose. I study both similarities and differences between Niziurski's and other authors' novels, which also feature the above-mentioned leitmotifs. The second chapter is an analysis of selected structures of pupils and teachers in terms of otherness, strangeness or, in the case of educators, „divinity”. The question of identity becomes important when I analyze the otherness of the characters. I use the Riceurian term "self" in order to describe as accurately as possible how the characters try to keep their „I” intact. With regard to strangeness, psychological issues such as stigma or stereotype are relevant. I indicate and analyze situations in which the characters are 'marked' by schoolmates or teachers with the stigma of strangeness, and how it affects their relationship with the school environment. I examine the construction of selected teachers in the mystical-religious context. The last chapter is devoted to the issue of power and how it is implemented at school. In the first part, I focus on the function of informer, the system of punishments and teachers' autocratic approach to students. The second part describes the ways students defend their sovereignty. Referring to Jacek Kuroń's philosophy of social resistance, I present the aspects of particular protagonists' activities that can be considered an attempt to build students' solidarity, which in the long term could cause a change in their relationship with teachers.