Między Genezis a Apokalipsą. Wokół opowiadania "Deus ex" Olgi Tokarczuk

• Authors: Iwona Gralewicz-Wolny

Title variants

EN

Between Genesis and Apocalypse. On "Deus ex" by Olga Tokarczuk

Abstracts

EN

The subject of the interpretation presented in this article is Deus ex, a short story by Olga Tokarczuk, published in the volume Wardrobe (Szafa) in 1997. Analysed in the contemporary context of the ever stronger catastrophe narrative, it approaches present-day disasters and hazards as part of the eternal process of the forever transforming world. Be doing so, it alludes to the ancient understanding of catastrophe as a revolution, a dramatic climax and a turning point that leads to inevitable catharsis. In Tokarczuk’s story, disaster is part of everyday life with all its alternate rhythms. The beginnings and ends of computer worlds generated by the protagonist create a kaleidoscope that reveals a slow disintegration of the main character’s reality. His plane converges with the coexisting elements of the feminine and masculine, human and divine, linear and cyclical time, the space of the introverted and extroverted, being awake and sleeping. In light of this binary, contrapuntal configuration of characters, objects and phenomena, disaster can be envisaged not only as a sign of a certain order coming to an end but also as a condition for the reorganisation of the current socio-cultural system. Once shaken, it can reveal itself in a new, different form.

Keywords

PL

olga tokarczuk; deus ex; przemiana; przeciwieństwa; równowaga

EN

olga tokarczuk; deus ex; transformation; opposites; balance

• Publisher: Narodowe Centrum Kultury
• Journal: Kultura Współczesna. Teoria. Interpretacje. Praktyka
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 109
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 178-187

Contributors

author

Iwona Gralewicz-Wolny

• https://orcid.org/0000000155089805

Identifiers

DOI

10.26112/kw.2020.109.12

Biblioteka Nauki

1857121