The cultural archive is a terminological detail in the dictionary of geopoetics. This is how Elżbieta Rybicka described this indispensable part a place’s texture (which is also created by experience and imagination). It is only when we adopt a micro perspective that we see that the cultural archive is as complicated a category as the place itself, and, additionally, it is further re-defined and re-contextualized by the archival turn. I discuss the problems related to the archive, its various types and the role it plays in the conceptualization of the place and identity associated with it, by interpreting the works of Janusz Szuber (Las wielki i niedźwiedziów dosyć [The forest is huge and there are enough bears]; Świadectwo języka [The testimony of language]) and Adam Robiński (Kiczery. Podróż przez Bieszczady [Kiczery. A journey through the Bieszczady Mountains]).
PL
Archiwum kultury w słowniku geopoetyki to terminologiczny detal. Tak Elżbieta Rybicka nazwała część składową tekstury miejsca (którą tworzą także doświadczenie i wyobraźnia). Dopiero przyjęcie perspektywy mikro pozwala dostrzec, że archiwum kultury jest nie mniej skomplikowane od kluczowej kategorii, jaką jest w tym nurcie badań miejsce, a jeszcze dodatkowo nabiera znaczeń w kontekście zwrotu archiwalnego. Problemy związane z archiwum, jego różne rodzaje oraz rolę w konceptualizacji miejsca i tożsamości z nim związanej przybliżono poprzez interpretacje utworów Janusza Szubera (Las wielki i niedźwiedziów dosyć; Świadectwo języka) i Adama Robińskiego (Kiczery. Podróż przez Bieszczady).
The analysis juxtaposes Fotografie ze Śląska by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz with Andrzej Stasiuk's brief literary sketch I tak to się kiedyś wszystko skończy. By comparing such dissimilar texts, the author draws attention to the modes of representing industrial and postindustrial space when seen from a certain distance by writers who are unconnected to the region described. Comparative analysis reveals, however, not only differences but also surprising similarities. The texts interpreted share the conviction of a particular "photogenity" and melancholy of Silesian landscapes.
“Biographies also consist of loops”. The un‑narrated life of Irena GelblumThe article presents the book by Remigiusz Grzela entitled Wybór Ireny in the context of the contemporary controversies/debates about the biographies and the narrations about the Shoah. In this case the “biographical loops” result both from the life attitude of the female protagonists who are described as well as from the strategy that was embraced by the biographer. The messenger of the Jewish Combat Organisation disassociated herself from her past and created a new image and biography for herself. The writer is continuously poised between the truth that he intends to reveal and fiction – a mystification put forward by Irena Gelblum vel Waniewicz vel Conti Di Mauro. Thus a story emerged whose essence (and significance) consists not so much in familiarising the reader with the figure and the tragic experiences of one of the “scorched” ones but in the exhibition of the ethical and literary problems associated with an attempt at presenting such a story. Key words: Irena’s Choice, Remigiusz Grzela, biography, ghetto
The work presents an interpretation of Wawrzyniec Żuławski’s Wędrówki alpejskie [Wandering in the Alps], a book which is regarded as an example of classic mountain literature, republished several times. The author focuses her reflections on the description of the Alps, noticing in it three key ways of presenting this mountain range: as “a park of parks”, a playground and a neighbourhood. The analysis of Wawrzyniec Żuławski’s exceptional style unravels the author’s attempts to capture in words “the beauty of mountain experiences.” However, while reading Wędrówki alpejskie, what comes to the foreground is the book’s factual dimension. In his accounts of the expeditions from the 1930s and 1940s, a passionate mountaineer and an artist (a writer and a composer) reports on the changes in civilisation which took place in the area of the most important (in cultural terms) European mountain range as a result of the process of park creation. Moreover, Żuławski depicts in his notes significant cultural transformations in the consciousness of people coming to mountain national parks and in their attitude to the mountainous landscape. On the one hand, what seems to be striking in the accounts which are the subject of our interpretation are the tensions between the ideals of protecting “wild” nature and the development of mass tourism. On the other hand, what is particularly thought-provoking is the sense of melancholy, caused by the awareness of the old “romantic” alpinism being displaced by a sport model, aimed not at “metaphysics of the mountain”, but at achievements and records.
The article discusses the problem of relations betweenspatial issues and contemporary identitydiscourses. Using suchconcepts as homo geographicus (R.D. Sack and J. Kaczmarek) and homo localis (M. Madurowicz), it presents a special case in which the subjectivity is determined in relation to the specific geographical environment – the mountains. The term “mountain man”, used in the literature, media and colloquial language for more than a hundred years, was analyzed from a philosophical perspective by Antonina Sebesta in the work Etyka i ethos “ludzi gór” (Ethics and Ethos of “Mountain People”), however the definition and scope of this identity category remains undetermined. This article “puts to test” the concept of the “mountain man” by analyzing the works of the so-called “mountain literature” of Michał Jagiełło – literary critic, mountaineer and rescue team member. The interpretations of the poems concentrate on the role of spatial metaphors inthelyrical identity narrative.TheauthornoticeshowJagiełło’s works,especially his last book of poetry – Pusta drabina [The Empty Ladder] encouragereflectiononidentityandthemythologyof the“mountainman”.
The article builds on Zbigniew Mikołejko’s claim that “the trash mountains” are a convenient metaphor. According to the philosopher, the colloquial phrase allows you to talk about almost everything, but it distances you from empiricism, from authentic rubbish dumps. The author tests the usefulness of this metaphor by analysing the interactions between its parts. They show two symbolic processes: the desacralisation of the mountains and the ennoblement of rubbish. The article focuses on the first one and asks about the images of the hills of the Anthropocene epoch. By interpreting two literary pictures of the trash mountains, an author examines the functioning of that metaphor. In Miron Białoszewski’s Chamowo, the Warsaw landfill is terrifying and a sign of loss. However, in Zbigniew Rokita’s reportage, entitled Kajś. Opowieść o Górnym Śląsku, an industrial heap that is a mountain made by people, is a deformation of nature that has become a permanent part of the region’s landscape. The metaphor of “trash mountains” opens access to ecological issues and becomes a form of involvement in the analysed works.
The article analyses the works of Polish researchers dealing with mountain issues in culture in the second half of the 20th century. The author demonstrates that the work of Jacek Woźniakowski, Jacek Kolbuszewski, and Michał Jagiełło are the precursors to contemporary mountain studies. Based on the analysis of the achievements of these researchers, it is possible to indicate the characteristics of mountain studies, such as combining scientific knowledge with personal experience and ecological commitment. In the article, these features were called „three points of contact,” referring to basic climbing technique. They are also visible in the works of other Polish (Tomasz Stępień) and foreign (Robert MacFarlane) researchers. On this basis, one can conclude that mountain studies have many features in common with scientific autobiographical writing. One of them is the critical potential, bringing mountain studies closer to ecocriticism and environmental humanities.
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