Textual Hybrids - on the Example of Andrzej Sapkowski's Cycle of the Wizard

• Authors: Roszczynialska M.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

According to psychological and social theories self-defining of both individual and communitarian identity is a comparison itself to the Other in terms of binaristic representation. In general sense the fantastic is a realm of otherness (the Aliens, non-human races, 'uncanny'). A shape of the Others is connected to the colonial practices: in the decolonisation wake it turned out that there are no indigenous people on the Earth. Due to this fact the fantastic finds its Others in the outer space, and then - according to globalization process - in the very close neighborhood. The process of transgression taking place during die conflicts causes the fact that in such circumstances the Others tend to percolate into 'our' realm and destroy actual social and cultural order. Figure of the Other is a vehicle of these transgression. The fantastic literature has always been interested in fictional representing of processes of transgression and hybridisation. Fantasy is a genre focused on the literary describing national and ethnic conflicts and, especially recently, their specular image which is multiculturalism. In Andrzej Sapkowski's 'Saga of the Wizard' all main issues of contemporary ethnic / racial discourse appear as racism, ethnonationalism, issues of individual and communitarian identity, processes of representation, racialisation and delegation of voice, problems of racial, ethnic end cultural hybridity and, last but not least, project of multiculturalism disseminated in the flame of political correctness. Contrary to what is thought when considering fantasy the operative category in literary analysis is neither fairy tale nor myth, but allegory (ethnos issue instead mythos ones). Among many aspects of hybridity in Sapkowski's work examined a figure of the shaman, which superseded the typical myth hero of fantasy (this process is a heritage of American contrculture in the 60s in fantasy).

Keywords

EN

FANTASY; INTERTEXTUALITY

Discipline

• PHILOLOGY_&_LINGUISTICS: PHILOLOGY & LINGUISTICS

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Jagielloński
• Journal: Przegląd Kulturoznawczy
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 1
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 76-88
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Roszczynialska M.

• M. Roszczynialska, Akademia Pedagogiczna w Krakowie, Instytut Filologii Polskiej, ul. Podchorazych 2, 30-084 Kraków, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

08PLAAAA05295