Poezja paradoksów, paradoksy w poezji : poetycka teologia Jana Twardowskiego, Janusza Pasierba, Wacława Oszajcy

Abstract

The book derives from an attempt to examine the contemporary sacerdotal poetry focused around a paradox. Religion is a great field for contradictions, especially that Christianity has always described itself using the language of paradoxes and antinomy — the language of contradictions indeed. In what other way can one express the transcendental contents? It seems that only a paradox, with the use of conceptual and linguistic devices available, and by means of inclusion of contradictory elements, is capable of capturing the whole. The aim of the book is to analyse sacerdotal poems in order to illustrate that the experience of paradox does not have to be negative, but, on the contrary, it is the only way to achieve the whole. Explicitness is of unilateral and unidirectional character, thus it cannot express the inconceivable. Paradox then becomes the most complete form of synthesis. The analyses and interpretations presented in the book aim mainly at discovering and describing the paradoxes occuring in the poetry of the following priests: Jan Twardowski, Janusz Stanisław Pasierb and Wacław Oszajca. It is not an easy task to expose the distinctiveness of the poetics of paradox in each of the three poets’ works, which constitute a specific theology written in the language of poetry. Bearing in mind the category of paradox itself, the author of the book has studied the construction of poetic senses built around this category and conceived through its prism. The most interesting aspect for her is the opennes to the new readings of contradictions and paradoxes, different ways of thinking, aporia, multiplicity of interpretations and destruction of stereotypes of reasoning, contestation of the accepted views and existence beyond the schemes of reception, especially in the Catholic theology — unswerving for centuries. In the book, the author pays attention to the graduality of paradoxes and the intensity of their impact on the reader. She wants to illustrate that paradoxicality is gradable and that conflicts and apparent contradictions do not have to be paradoxical, yet, they may turn out to be such in a certain perspective. The Poetry of Paradoxes — The Paradoxes of Poetry. The Poetic Theology of Jan Twardowski, Janusz Stanisław Pasierb and Wacław Oszajca consists of two main parts. In the first one, the author adduces theoretical observations concerning the poetics of paradox: first she determines the etymology of this concept, and then, the functioning definitions and typologies. Such a synthesis of the state of research on paradox seems necessary, primarily as the basis for further analyses and interpretations. It appears to be relevant with regard to lack of any monographic study on paradox which would aggregate and organize the results obtained so far. The systemaized theoretical knowledge about paradox allows the interpreter to reflect on the “paradox in action”, which is being realised as a stylistic trope, determinative of the immanent poetics in the sacerdotal poetry. It also enables him/ her to avoid the danger of falling into the trap of generalizations and constatations, which impede rather than expand the hermeneutic potential of paradox in the context of poem interpretation. Hence, the functioning of a paradox illustrated with Twardowski, Pasierb and Oszajca’s poems, united by the discussed category, yet divergent in terms of the poetics used to describe the world, are discussed in the second part of the book. The paradoxes in the poetry of Jan Twardowski compose the most common structure of paradox, which is manifested in forms of oxymorons and antitheses, structured around the linguistic contrasts. Particularly often Twardowski constructs his paradox on the basis of contradictions which complete one another within one whole. In other words, he creates antithetical constructions of complementary meanings which complete one another. Paradox in his poetry is a method of talking and writing about God and faith — a display of apophatic theology. In the poetry of Janusz Stanisław Pasierb, the paradox is most often based on the combination of two juxtaposed pictures, events presented as contradictory, or antinomic situations that take place in the Christ’s homeland. Thus, it does not consist merely in incompatible words or phrases, but in the situations described in a poem. They are mainly the results of conflicts between the followers of Judaism, Islam and Christianity, but also, the effect of confrontation of what is old and sacred in the Holy Land with the contemporary and profane. In the poetic texts of the third author — Wacław Oszajca — the contradictions are evoked by the combination of distinctive orders of reality and illustrated with the pictures of redemption of characters commonly associated with evil and inferno, such as Judas or the devil. This form of representation corresponds to the definition of paradox as an element contradictory to the common view — a claim that challenges the beliefs of a certain group of people and surprises the reader. The book derives from the analysis of separate poetic texts concerned with religious themes, which are combined into a whole by means of a paradox that unites them. Its aim is to reinterpret and destroy the common frameworks, in order to present new, surprising readings of the biblical contents, motifs and characters which are usually already burdened with certain standardised judgements. It is a way of reversing or “reformulating” the themes, as if from a different angle. The role of paradoxes in the priests’ poetry is not limited to providing entertainment or a witty wordplay. They rather serve a purpose of revealing the elements of reality, the phenomena and situations which have been concealed or overlooked. Simultaneously, they expose the particular sensitivity of the poets, revealing their unconventional perception of the world as opposed to routine and unilateral view. Owing to the suggestive and meaningful paradoxes, the priests obtain poetic devices to awake consciences and influence the readers’ imagination, which is important these days. This approach, to a certain extent, derives from knowledge, reading and travelling experiences, but also — which the author of the book tries to emphasise — from the sacrament of priesthood itself. Certainly, a paradox aspires to be the most important category in the sacerdotal poetry, to rise to the rank of poetics — an aesthetics regarded as a consequence of the particular worldview or a way of thinking.