Category of the Grotesque in Descriptions of the Music from Concentration Camps. <i>Gry oświęcimskie</i> by Szymon Laks

Authors

  • Bartosz Dąbrowski Instytut Filologii Polskiej, Uniwersytet Gdański

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31261/NoZ.2016.02.14

Abstract

Category of the Grotesque in Descriptions of the Music from Concentration Camps Gry oświęcimskie by Szymon Laks

The article presents the grotesque as an autobiographical strategy of talking about the experience of concentration camps. In his autobiographical testimony, Szymon Laks describes the music in Birkenau as the part of the Nazi system of exploitation of prisoners. In his memories, music in the concentration camp is deprived of humanistic values, and becomes a symbol of the violence, hierarchy and absurdity of the camp life. For Laks, the grotesque and self‑parody become the only means of speaking about the experience of the concentration camp. Laks chooses the literary tactics of inhuman accustoming, similar to the works of such writers as Tadeusz Borowski and Piotr Rawicz.

Key words: Szymon Laks, music in concentration camps, Holocaust, trauma, grotesque, parody

Published

2016-12-29

How to Cite

Dąbrowski, B. (2016). Category of the Grotesque in Descriptions of the Music from Concentration Camps. <i>Gry oświęcimskie</i> by Szymon Laks. Narracje O Zagładzie [Narrations of the Shoah], (2), 224–234. https://doi.org/10.31261/NoZ.2016.02.14