POLITICAL INPUT IN MAKING POETS CULTURAL ICONS

• Authors: Gavura Ján
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This study analyses the role and degree of political involvement in the process of constructing poets as cultural icons in Polish and Slovak literature in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The main focus is on the Polish poets Zbigniew Herbert and Czesław Miłosz and the Slovak poet Laco Novomeský, but research also takes into consideration other Polish and Slovak poets (Wisława Szymborska, Ján Ondruš, and Ivan Štrpka). This examination reveals an important political input behind constructing these poets as cultural icons using the symbolic potential that the poets accrued over the years and were able to represent. The dynamic character of icons (accelerated by great geopolitical and social changes in East-Central Europe), however, causes a constant re-semantization and partially diminishes their iconic status, especially for upcoming generations. Despite a rearrangement of the hierarchy of layers in their iconic status, the poets are always associated with their poetic work, and the notable quality of this work keeps their potential for remaining or becoming cultural icons regardless of political circumstances.

Keywords

EN

CULTURAL ICONS; POLISH LITERATURE; SLOVAK LITERATURE; POETRY

• Publisher: Institute of World Literature, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: World Literature Studies
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 47 – 63

Contributors

author

Gavura Ján

• Institute of Slovak and Media Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Prešov, ul. 17. Novembra 1, 80 01 Prešov, Slovak Republic