Opowiadanie, błąd, dys-kurs : naruszenie reguły jako praktyka literacka

Abstract

This work presents an error as a literary practice in contemporary prose. The error is understood here as crossing the literary rules and a change that comes from genre deformation showed in analyzed texts. The functioning of the error is depicted via the examples of works by Dorota Masłowska, Jerzy Pilch, Andrzej Stasiuk and Jacek Dehnel. Furthermore I examine the term - error - s a literary practice using foreign articles and research on deception and error from all over the world. In the introductory chapters, I concentrate on the theoretical thesis of the substance of the error. I try to determine the semantics of the main term of this dissertation basing on explored aberrations in composition and genres. I do not attempt to generate any catalogue of norms or to analyze their transgressions. The genre matters are not an issue here. Taking into consideration the norms, however, I notice crossing the rules, yet I do not assume it comes solely from the convention. For me it is the result of the contemporary qualities of writing. The novels mentioned (and novels in general) are the mirror of their times and as such they become metatextual comment to the changes in literature. The immense part of my work is dedicated to the presentation of the difference between being mistaken and misleading somebody. I associate being mistaken with the motive of a labyrinth. Trying to go through it, we often meet blind spots that are the effect of being mistaken. If we apply a certain procedure, we can either go back or go forward breaking the order and the norms. When it comes to misleading, we can notice a peculiar stimulation of the matter of the text and subjective correlation of components. Taking that into account, misleading is presented through the selectivity of description and the special function of representation. Moreover, I analyze the matter of a novel and its status in the contemporary literature. I apply my findings to examine the latest Polish literature. I set together the critical diagnosis and the characteristics of the book market. I consider the phenomena composed of transgressing the rules, for example mosaic character of prose, the end of the great narratives, diversity of text, modifications of realism and innovation, as a normative state for the error. I show such practices as the origin of the new genders in literature. To sum up, my work is an attempt to prove that error as a literary practice is not a new phenomenon – it only requires systematization and theoretical discussion.