‘The world disguised, bottomless’. Textile metaphor in Stanisław Barańczak’s poetry Cover Image

„Świat przebrany, nieprzebrany”. Metafora tekstylna w poezji Stanisława Barańczaka
‘The world disguised, bottomless’. Textile metaphor in Stanisław Barańczak’s poetry

Author(s): Kamila Czaja
Subject(s): Poetry, Polish Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Poznańskie Studia Polonistyczne
Keywords: Stanisław Barańczak; contemporary poetry; textile metaphor; garments in poetry;

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the issue of textile metaphor and its function in Stanisław Barańczak’s poetry – a topic that used to be discussed mainly in relation to women’s poetry. In his poems, Barańczak uses elements of garments as a means to capture abstract and often dangerous aspects of existence and as a symbol of a system or a characteristic of citizens living in a specific time. Textile metaphor allows him to expose the falsehood of the system and the threat of totalitarianism, while also constituting part of a dissident’s everyday equipment. References to parts of garments are a way to present the poetic programme and the ambiguous role of an artist. In a ‘disguised’ and dangerous world of poetry marked by a secret difficult to ‘uncover’, one is, in a way, sentenced to dress against the requirements imposed on them by reality.

  • Issue Year: 2019
  • Issue No: 36
  • Page Range: 125-148
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: Polish