"Samowolna litera" : literatura pomiędzy "niemyślanym" a "irracjonalnym"

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of place occupied by the notion of ‘culture’ in the modem humanities. Very often identified with knowledge, the above idea simulaneously becomes the discursive part of episteme (Foucault). As the result of such an understanding, the cultural context is treated as ‘unthinkable’, excluded from knowledge, though evoking interpretations formed within its scope (Derrida, Foucault); in this case we deal with the extension transference mechanism, in Edward Hall terms. On the other hand, we can think about context as the ‘irrational’ element which destructs rational order (Hall). But there is also another view of the matter, in which we could ascribe autonomy to the culture: literature shows us the existence of nonverbal registers of context - out-of-awareness culture (Hall). According to this view, voice is not only a letter’s supplement, in just the same way as cultural context is not one more element of knowledge.