Otwieranie warowni - dom w prozie kresowej (na przykładzie epopei huculskiej Stanisława Vincenza)

Abstract

In the paper there are outlined transformations of the Kresy discourse in Polish literature (from sacralization and mythologization to unmasking and demythologization within confines of postcolonial studies). The author distinguishes various renderings of one of the key motifs of this literary current – the motif of home – by describing borderline posts, border households, cosmopolitan dwellings, and nestle-like as well as gravelike homes in different writers’ works. Subsequently, having drawn such a background, the author presents her interpretation of the motif of home in the epic cycle On the High Pastures by Stanisław Vincenz. The article presents the analysis of the Krzyworównia manor house’s and the Hutsulian grażda’s (folk cottage) descriptions. The juxtaposition outlines both similarities and differences of the buildings in question. First of all, the interpretation of the eponymous motif in the Hutsulian epic lets us perceive a characteristic evolution – from place that was closed (a stronghold) to a place open for otherness and encounters – which seems to be a gist of Vincenz’s anthropological and regionalistic beliefs but also an important feature of the Kresy prose in general.