The paper sets out to analyse Conrad’s novella A Smile of Fortune and its narrator-protagonist’s crisis of identity in terms of the Jungian concept of individuation. The dynamic process of constructing the narrative identity, as defined by Ricoeur, finds its psychological equivalent in the concept of individuation which involves recognizing and assimilating the opposites that reside within the unconscious and aims at transforming the psyche into the Self or coincidentia oppositorum. The paper focuses on the narrator’s interaction with Jacobus and Alice as the stages of the individuation process which include a confrontation with the shadow and the anima, the archetypes of the unconscious.
Wojciech Jagielski has been presented in the article as a successor to Ryszard Kapuściński’s accomplishments in the genre of literary nonfiction. Both authors continue the tradition of nonfiction writing which started after the First World War in Poland and which displayed their fascination with human history. They both share the technique of using parallels and analogies, which for Jagielski serves the purpose of presenting culturally and historically remote spaces. Another key characteristic of Jagielski’s oeuvre, namely creating complex psychological portraits of the people in power, also tends to utilize the aforementioned technique. In consequence, Jagielski’s artistic development often leads him out onto the territory of yet another tradition of nonfiction writing, the one based on social observation.
The aim of the article is to analyse the impact exerted by changes of the NBP base interest rates on the exchange rate of the Polish zloty and to evaluate whether the observed impact is consistent with the theory. A typical assumption grounded in the theory of economy refers to a positive direction of the impact exerted by changes of interest rates stated by the central bank on the exchange rate of the national currency. The analysis covers the impact exerted by changes of the NBP interest reference rate on the behaviour of the nominal market EUR/PLN exchange rate during the period 2004−2015 (in 2015 the latest change of the NBP interest rates took place). The authors have applied the event study method for analysing the response of the exchange rate in particular periods of time: during one day/five days before the decision, and one day/two days/five days after the decision made by the NBP. The analysis divides the decisions made by the NBP into decisions which met expectations of the market and decisions which were unexpected by the market. The results of the research present a picture of random multidirectional changes of various strength which do not confirm indications stated in the theory of economy, referring to the direction of the impact exerted by the monetary policy on the exchange rate.
PL
Celem niniejszego artykułu jest zbadanie wpływu zmian bazowych stóp procentowych NBP na kurs złotego oraz ocena czy obserwowany wpływ był zgodny z teorią. Typowym założeniem osadzonym w teorii ekonomii jest dodatni kierunek wpływu zmian stóp procentowych banku centralnego na kurs krajowej waluty. Analizie poddano wpływ zmian referencyjnej stopy procentowej NBP na zachowanie nominalnego rynkowego kursu EUR/ PLN w okresie 2004-2015 (w 2015 r. miała miejsce ostatnia zmiana stóp procentowych NBP). Autorzy zastosowali metodę event study, badając reakcję kursu punktowo w dniach 1 dzień/5 dni przed decyzją, oraz 1 dzień/2 dni/5 dni po decyzji NBP. W analizie dokonano rozróżnienia na decyzje NBP zgodne z oczekiwaniami rynku oraz generujące zaskoczenie rynku. Wyniki przeprowadzonego badania dały obraz przypadkowych wielokierunkowych zmian o zróżnicowanej sile, które nie potwierdzają wskazań teorii ekonomii o kierunku oddziaływania polityki pieniężnej na kurs walutowy. Taki rezultat badań sugeruje ograniczony potencjał oddziaływania polityki stóp procentowych NBP na rynek walutowy w Polsce.