Freedom versus intolerance : variations on the theme of supernatural wives and husbands

Abstract

I have chosen, for the jubilee volume, my article “Freedom vs. Intolerance — Variations on the Theme of Supernatural Wives and Husbands”. It appeared in the volume entitled “We are all Indians” Violence — Intolerance — Literature, edited by Wojciech Kalaga and Tadeusz Sławek (Katowice 1990). This was a special time for all of us; today it is called the time of breakthrough, or transformation. The topic of my article, and most other articles contained in this volume, is connected with the problem of freedom and enslavement, which, bearing in mind the atmosphere of that period, was almost inevitable. Thus, the reader will find, in that article of mine, reflections concerning the so called positive and negative freedom, some thoughts about Erich Fromm’s book Fear of Freedom. I used there also an old proverb, quoted in the writings of Sir Isaiah Berlin: “to be free is nothing, to become free is the very heaven”, a proverb that sounded very appropriate in the times when we all in Poland were regaining our lost freedom. The article itself is a heady mixture of threads and motifs taken from classical and modern philosophy, folktales, Biblical traditions and mythology, whereas the typical literary studies, or history of literature, are virtually absent there. This rather unconventional approach is, to some extent, typical of the style of academic discourse characteristic of the English studies as understood and practised in the University of Silesia at that time, that is in the 1980s and 1990s. This style was shaped, among other persons, by the, often indirect, influence of such personalities as Wojciech Kalaga, Tadeusz Sławek, Emanuel Prower, Tadeusz Rachwał, or, last but not least, Ewa Borkowska, who also contributed to the volume in question. Naturally, I am solely responsible for what I wrote in that article, which is a rather faithful reflection of my interests (and perhaps also obsessions) in that very memorable period of time.