WHITMAN AND MIŁOSZ’S AMERICA Cover Image

Whitman i Ameryka Miłosza
WHITMAN AND MIŁOSZ’S AMERICA

Author(s): Joanna Zach
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: exile; the “I” of lyrical poetry and the “I” of dytyramb; homelessness as belonging

Summary/Abstract: This paper investigates the ambiguous process of Czesław Miłosz’s integration with America (both its nature and culture) in the context of his literary commitments and “private obligations” to American poetry. It was a long and painful process, a constant struggle with the condition of exile, feelings of homelessness and uprootedness that finally revealed to the poet a “new identity” of the modern man, bound to recognize his unstable, shaky position in space and time. According to Miłosz, America was the testing ground for all mankind, and the very core of American literature had always been the question: “Who am I?”. Thus, Miłosz’s serious involvement in American history and culture gave him a new perspective on global civilization; it helped to recreate his own identity and to achieve a balance between homelessness and belonging.

  • Issue Year: 2011
  • Issue No: 25
  • Page Range: 93-101
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: Polish