Marta Syrwid’s writing enters into subjects which are perceived as taboo. Anorexia, namely striving for unattainable perfection of the body, is such a ‘forbidden’ motif of the novel entitled Zaplecze. This problem is connected with a lack of acceptance from loved ones which results in both physical and mental emaciation of the novel’s narrator. Syrwid alludes to the motif of a mannequin, in particular a she-mannequin which has been present in literature for centuries. It is fitting to add that the subject of her writing is clearly associated with the model of female writing. Undoubtedly, the value of the interpreted novel arises out of its topicality and tackling of social problems which are usually marginalized.
In the time of pandemic, solitude has proven to be such a prevailing issue that it has been propounded by Professor John T. Cacioppo, a social psychologist from the University of Chicago, that it should be considered a disease. The present article shows reflection on one’s attempts to escape the sense of desolation. The author interprets Dead As They Come, a short story by Ian McEwan, whose protagonist wallows in love for a clothes dummy. At first, the object of his desire, in compliance with Roland Barthes’ theses, appears to be remarkable and unique. Nevertheless, the closing part of the work documents the protagonist’s failure, as he realises that he succumbed to his own phantasm. In the final part of the article, the author makes a reference to the phenomenon of reborn dolls, as an example on nonfictional combat against solitude.
With the tools borrowed from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, this article discusses the topic of the represented world, and especially literary characters, in the prose of Zygmunt Haupt. The concept of the drive presented as an artistic montage – as developed by Lacan – turns out to be particularly useful in the analysis of literary portraits depicted by Haupt. Constructed as a montage of memories, this prose points to the very mechanism of imaginary representation driven by what is described by Freud as “drive-spring”. It constructs a stage on which individual characters are presented; it drives them as characters. It is also a metaphor describing the mechanisms of remembering and writing. Propelled by the “drive-spring” those literary characters resemble dolls or mannequins; they also point to the surrealist tradition within which these literary representations can be located.
PL
Prezentowany artykuł podejmuje tematykę konstrukcji świata przedstawionego, a zwłaszcza literackich postaci, w prozie Zygmunta Haupta z wykorzystaniem narzędzi psychoanalizy Sigmunda Freuda oraz Jacques’a Lacana. Szczególnie istotna w tym kontekście okazuje się koncepcja popędu jako artystycznego montażu wypracowana przez francuskiego psychoanalityka. Z jej pomocą analizie poddane zostały literackie portrety wybranych bohaterek Haupta. Proza ta, skonstruowana na zasadzie montażu wspomnień, wskazuje jednocześnie na sam mechanizm wyobrażeniowej reprezentacji napędzany przez sprężynę popędową. To ona jest podstawą sceny, na której prezentowane są poszczególne postaci, ona je napędza, ona wreszcie jest metaforą ukazującą mechanizm wspominania i pisania. Napędzane przez sprężynę popędową postaci Haupta przypominają lalki albo manekiny, wskazując tym samym również na surrealistyczną tradycję, w obrębie której przedstawienia te mogą być lokowane.
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