"Lost identity. Reward finder.” About undermining the myth of Poland in the novel Morphine by Szczepan Twardoch Cover Image

„Pierdut identitate. Găsitorului recompensă”. Despre subminarea mitului polonităţii în romanul Morfina de Szczepan Twardoch
"Lost identity. Reward finder.” About undermining the myth of Poland in the novel Morphine by Szczepan Twardoch

Author(s): Cristina Godun
Subject(s): Novel, Polish Literature, Theory of Literature, Sociology of Literature
Published by: Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti
Keywords: stereotype; Polish martyrology; second World War; morphine; identity quest; Polish national (identity) myth;

Summary/Abstract: The Morphine is a very interesting novel about the traps of identity quest as well as about the perils of misused national stereotypes. Written in an alert and modern style, sometimes even psychodelic and hallucinatory, the novel denotes a great attention for details. Its author, Szczepan Twardoch, unravels and pursues the complicated fate of Konstanty Willemann, the son of a German officer of aristocratic ancestry and of a Silesian woman who turned „Polish”, second lieutenant in the Polish army, banqueter, artist, and morphine addict. For those who know him, Konstanty has a concrete, palpable identity assigned to him by a certain role that he plays in society, but Willeman himself feels he is a man without a face. He doesn’t truly know who he really is, and his development throughout the novel at the outbreak of World War II is defined by his quest for his own identity.

  • Issue Year: XLIX/2013
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 37-45
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: Romanian