Czesław Miłosz’s The Seizure of Power – Today

Authors

  • Zdzisława Mokranowska doktor habilitowany, prof. UŚ w Zakładzie Teorii Literatury Instytutu Nauk o Literaturze Polskiej im. prof. Ireneusza Opackiego Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach.

Keywords:

Czesław Miłosz, The Seizure of Power, novel, reception

Abstract

The theme of the article is an attempt to answer the question concerning the way in which Czesław Miłosz’s novel The Seizure of Power exists in the contemporary readers’ reception. To which extent does it nowadays fulfill (or not) the functions for which it was artistically designed half a century earlier? Is it attractive, or do the standards of reading evolved which made it old­fashioned and unable to provoke readers emotions? The article concentrates also on searching for important distinctive features for the type of novel that The Seizure of Power is or appears to be today. It can be regarded both as a novel concerning politics with a clear autobiographical suggestions and as a key novel of a certain factual value. By a contemporary (especially young) reader this first novel of the Nobel Prize Winner will be regarded as a historical prose. By literary critics and new monographers of the author of The Issa Valley it will be treated today like the caesura in Miłosz’s artistic biography – such attitude is now more visible than ever before. It marks the point from which he distances himself from political „journalism” and favors poetry, essays and criticism.

Author Biography

Zdzisława Mokranowska, doktor habilitowany, prof. UŚ w Zakładzie Teorii Literatury Instytutu Nauk o Literaturze Polskiej im. prof. Ireneusza Opackiego Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach.

Zajmuje się historią i teorią literatury; jest autorką kilkudziesięciu rozpraw i artykułów poświęconych ewolucji form prozatorskich i poezji dwudziestego wieku. Opublikowała monografie: W świecie prozy Henryka Sienkiewicza (2002); Prozy poetów kręgu „Skamandra” wobec tradycji elitarnych i popularnych form kultury (2003); Młodość i starość. Studia o twórczości Jarosława Iwaszkiewicza (2009). Redaktor tomu prac zbiorowych: Henryk Sienkiewicz. Polak i Europejczyk (2004), współredaktor „Studiów Sienkiewiczowskich” wydawanych przez Towarzystwo im. Henryka Sienkiewicza. Zarząd Główny w Lublinie.

References

Barańczak S., 1999, Przedmowa do szwedzkiego i amerykańskiego wydania, w: Miłosz C., Zdobycie władzy, Kraków.

Gawliński S., 1993, Polityczne obowiązki. Odmiany powojennej prozy politycznej w latach 1945–1975, Kraków.

Giedroyć J., Bobkowski A., 1977, Listy 1946–1961, oprac. Zieliński J., Warszawa.

Giedroyć J., Mieroszewski J., 1999, Listy 1949–1956, oprac. Pomian K., Krawczyk J., Warszawa.

Giedroyć J., Miłosz C., 2008, Listy 1952–1963, oprac. Kornat M., Warszawa.

Giedroyć J., Stempowski J., 1998, Listy 1946–1969, Warszawa 1998.

Gombrowicz W., 1986, Dzienniki 1953–1956, w: Gombrowicz W., Dzieła, tom VII, red. Błoński J., Kraków.

Gorczyńska R. (Czarnecka E.), 1992, Podróżny świata. Rozmowy z Czesławem Miłoszem. Komentarze, Kraków.

Miłosz C., 1993, Wiersze, t. 1, Kraków.

Miłosz C., 1999, Zdobycie władzy, w: Miłosz C., Dzieła zebrane, Kraków.

Miłosz C., 2007, Przypis po latach, w: Miłosz C., Zdobycie władzy, posł. Gorczyńska R., Warszawa.

Wyka K., 1974, Powieść o polityce, w: Wyka K., Pogranicze powieści, Warszawa.

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Published

2020-12-17

How to Cite

Mokranowska, Z. (2020). Czesław Miłosz’s The Seizure of Power – Today. Postscriptum Polonistyczne, 7(1), 167–181. Retrieved from https://trrest.vot.pl/ojsus/index.php/PPol/article/view/10756

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1 (2011): Miłosz – w stulecie urodzin

Section

Czytanie Miłosza – rewizje

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