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In Search of a Modern Epic: on the Generic Status of Walt Whitman’s song of mysel

100%

Studniarz S.

Acta Neophilologica

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2005

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issue VII

63-76

EN

The aim of the article is to show the affinities of S ong o f M y self by Walt Whitman, an American Romantic poet, with the classical epic poem, on the basis of the theory of genre evolution propounded by such Polish scholars as Ireneusz Opacki, Michał Głowiński and Andrzej Zgorzelski. The first part discusses the status of S ong o f M y self as an epic poem as it is perceived by American literary historians. Then the extensive analysis of the poem’s elements and devices is conducted, pointing to their roots in the classical epic. However, the dominant tendency in the poem is the strategy of simultaneous evocation and subversion of the epic tradition. As a result, S ong o f M y self emerges as an innovative poem, a precursor to the later Modernist ‘long poems’, and serves as the link between the classical epic poem and the extended poetic works or sequences of the twentieth century. In the final analysis, the role of S ong o f M y self is seen to consist in harking back to the tradition of classical epics on the one hand, and in its radical modification, and thus it seems to launch a new poetic genre.

2

Czesław Miłosz i Walt Whitman: przekład jako prawdziwa obecność

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Van Nieukerken A.

Poznańskie Studia Polonistyczne. Seria Literacka

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2012

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issue 20

217-231

EN

Miłosz’s later poetry attempts to overcome the (post)modernist gap between the author as a textual effect and the subject of autobiography. An important stage on this road was his poetry book (in fact, a long poem in its own right) Nieobjęta ziemia [Unattainable Earth]. Its form is clearly dialogical. The collection mixes authorial poems with various examples of “heteroglossia”. Particularly striking is the prominent presence of Walt Whitman’s poetry. Whitmanian poetics assume that fully experiencing reality presupposes the existence of a community. The task of poetry consists in conceiving artistic structures that, when they are “concretized”, allow the reader to participate in such a community. Nieobjęta ziemia tries to come to terms with the Whitmanian challenge. The poetical subject in this somewhat modified example of the modern “sylva rerum” experiences its link with the “other” by an individual reception of artifacts that point to the communal essence of humanity. Nieobjęta ziemia , realizing community in the field of poetics “performatively”, incorporates these artifacts into the text. Particularly important seems to be the role played by poems translated by Miłosz himself (they are explicitly labeled as translations), and that represent the human condition called by Whitman “en masse”.

3

Nie miałem prawa tak mówić o tobie, Robercie. Czesław Miłosz i poeci amerykańscy

63%

Franaszek A.

Przekładaniec. Półrocznik Katedry UNESCO do Badań nad Przekładem i Komunikacja Miedzykulturowa UJ

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2011

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issue 25

81-92

EN

In 1946 Czesław Miłosz started his diplomatic service in the USA, which allowed him a more serious encounter with American culture, particularly with American poetry. He would observe it closely and participate in it till the end of his life. This article discusses the cultural shock experienced by Miłosz, who arrived in safe and affluent America from a Europe devastated by the war. It also talks about the poet’s distance towards American culture and about his interest, sometimes bordering on ambiguous fascination, in such authors as Walt Whitman or Robinson Jeffers. In the 1960s and 70s, as a resident of California, Miłosz argued with contemporary American poetry, Robert Lowell and Allen Ginsberg among others. His argument focused on two fundamental issues: poets’ concentration on their own experiences or their need to capture the greatest possible part of the world external to them and different understandings of nihilism. Frequently accusing confessional poets of feeling sorry for themselves, of dazzling readers with their own “I”, only towards the end of his life did Miłosz start to reveal, in such poems as This or To Allen Ginsberg, his own doubts and despairs that he had kept secret for private reasons and as part of his artistic strategy

4

Ameryka odkupiona, czyli Johna Mattesona Miejsce gorsze niż piekło

54%

Świerkot M.

ER(R)GO: Teoria – Literatura – Kultura

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2020

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issue 41

227-232

EN

The present reflections address a text which resists any attempts at unambivalent categorization in terms of its genre. John Mattenson’s most recent book offers its reader not only a fascinating intellectual experience but also an intimate inside journey. In A Worse Place Than Hell the biographies of five main protagonists – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., John Pelham, Walt Whitman, Arthur B. Fuller, Louisa May Alcott – are the canvas, upon which the Author paints the biography of an adolescent country at the brink of a collapse. It is a (hi)story of the rite of passage from partisan egotism to civic responsibility, a social development that made America’s maturity possible. After Fredericksburg, the ultimate catastrophe was averted owing to the ethical integrity of individuals whose faith would redeem the initiative that America had stood for – and still stands – since 1776. Matteson’s book may still help inspire yet another ethical awakening in the nation fragmented more severely than ever since the end of the Civil War.

PL

Niniejsze rozważania dotyczą tekstu, który opiera się wszelkim próbom jednoznacznej gatunkowej kategoryzacji. Rygorystyczna pod względem akademickim i wierna historycznym szczegółom, najnowsza książka Johna Mattensona – arcydzieło życiopisania (life-writing) – proponuje czytelnikowi nie tylko fascynujące doświadczenie intelektualne, ale także intymną podróż do wnętrza samego siebie. W Miejscu gorszym niż piekło biografie pięciu głównych bohaterów – Olivera Wendella Holmesa Jr., Johna Pelhama, Walta Whitmana, Arthura B. Fullera i Louisy May Alcott – stanowią płótno, na którym autor, laureat nagrody Pulitzera, maluje biografię młodzieńczego kraju na skraju upadku. Jest to opowieść o rytuale przejścia od egoistycznej stronniczości do obywatelskiej odpowiedzialności, historia społecznych przemian, które przeprowadziły Amerykę w dojrzałość. Po klęsce pod Fredericksburgiem, ostatecznej katastrofie Unii udało się zapobiec dzięki prawości jednostek. Głęboka moralność pojedynczych Amerykanów odkupiła wyrosłą z wiary inicjatywę, która powołała Amerykę do istnienia, i na której – od 1776 – roku Ameryka nieustannie wzrasta. Książka Johna Mattesona, która ujrzy światło dzienne na początku roku 2021, jest ważnym głosem w debacie o roli Stanów Zjednoczonych, mogącym zainspirować kolejne etyczne przebudzenie w narodzie, który od zakończenia wojny secesyjnej nie doświadczył tak głębokich jak dziś podziałów.

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1 Acta Neophilologica

1 ER(R)GO: Teoria – Literatura – Kultura

1 Poznańskie Studia Polonistyczne. Seria Literacka

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In Search of a Modern Epic: on the Generic Status of Walt Whitman’s song of mysel

Czesław Miłosz i Walt Whitman: przekład jako prawdziwa obecność

Nie miałem prawa tak mówić o tobie, Robercie. Czesław Miłosz i poeci amerykańscy

Ameryka odkupiona, czyli Johna Mattesona Miejsce gorsze niż piekło