Karczma, arka Noego i labirynt losu : o "Austerii" Juliana Stryjkowskiego

Abstract

The paper is a proposition of interpretation of the novel Austeria by Julian Stryjkowski. The author considers different functions of the title motif in separate subsections of the text. The limitation of the time of action to a day and night and its location in one place („austeria” — the inn from the title of the novel) are a symbolic attempt at putting time to a standstill contrasted with a story about a great transformation of the world. The inn is the center from which the protagonist Tag observes the end of the old world. The spherically organized space in which each movement is connected with constantly renewed returns to the inn is reminiscent of labyrinth which becomes in the novel a figure of the fate of individuals and of the collective fate of the protagonists. Compared to Noah’s ark the inn gathers the whole variety of species from the old world, it is a microcosm in which the „old happy Austria” is reflected though transformed to the sphere of myth. The inn also plays an important role in the characteristic of the main hero whom it situates in both social and intimate spheres. The connection between man and place is so strong that it almost allows for their identification with each other. In this context Tag’s departure from the inn culminating the story gains more importance as departure towards death, but also as departure from the dying world towards moral values.