Leopolda Tyrmanda mechanizmy reprodukowania „duszy miasta” w słowie
Leopold Tyrmand’s mechanisms of literary reproduction of the “spirit of the city”

Summary/Abstract: In his essay Lesseps życzliwy Warszawie, Leopold Tyrmand proposed the figure of the “spirit of the city”. As he himself claimed, this category can be reproduced in song, painting, and, most importantly in the case of a writer, in writing. This invites a close examination of the representations of real urban space present in his texts – including Dziennik 1954, essays published in “Tygodnik Powszechny” and “Przekrój”, as well as the novels Zły and Życie towarzyskie i uczuciowe – and an exploration, at least in part, of the mechanisms through which the would-be architect evokes the “spirit of the city”. The study is informed by Ben Anderson’s concept of affective atmosphere and supplemented by references to Elżbieta Rybicka’s geopoetics, Aleksandra Wójtowicz’s architectural literary studies, and research in architectural theory. This perspective allows to understand how the experience of “being” in space and the imagination of the homo architectonicus permeated Tyrmand’s language. At the same time, it aligns with current scholarly approaches while extending them to include Tyrmand’s work, which has so far been marginally considered in this context.

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