Papers by Łukasz Kraj
Romanica Cracoviensia, 2024
The aim of this article is to analyse the role of biblical references in Al Berto's (Alberto Rapo... more The aim of this article is to analyse the role of biblical references in Al Berto's (Alberto Raposo Pidwell Tavares) last poetry volume, Horto de Incêndio, published in 1997. Previous research on this poetry has identified intertextuality, an interest in corporeality and the problem of the relationship between experience and text as dominant features of this work. Building upon these insights, I demonstrate that the numerous allusions to the Bible, especially evocations of the Apocalypse, in Horto de Incêndio are related to the author's attempt to textualise the experience of illness and allow us to partially reconstruct his view of the ontology of the literary text.
Materiais para a Salvação do Mundo 8, ed. Pedro Eiras, Porto: Instituto da Literatura Comparada Margardia Losa, 2024
[EN] Starting from identifying the concept of “salvation” as one that inevitably implies the pres... more [EN] Starting from identifying the concept of “salvation” as one that inevitably implies the presence of a threat, this paper aims to probe selected examples of Polish catastrophist poetry in search of visions of salvation implicit in catastrophic images. Firstly, I trace the scope and leading features of the catastrophist current, localising it within the broader context of Polish history and culture. Subsequently, drawing on Wolfgang Iser’s literary anthropology, I analyse three poems, written in different historical periods, by Józef Czechowicz, Czesław Miłosz, and Radosław Jurczak, pointing out how poetic qualities present in their work transcend the catastrophic visions and permit contours of possible salvation to emerge. In this, I treat literature as an epistemic practice that, thanks to the productive force of imagination, can disclose what is restrained from reasoning or perception.
[PT] A partir da identificação da noção de "salvação" enquanto conceito que implica inevitavelmente a presença de uma ameaça, este artigo tem como objetivo investigar exemplos selecionados de poesia catastrofista polaca em busca de visões de salvação implícitas em imagens de catástrofe. Primeiro, traço o escopo e as principais características da corrente catastrofista, localizando-a no contexto mais amplo da história e da cultura da Polónia. Em seguida, recorrendo à antropologia literária de Wolfgang Iser, analiso três poemas, escritos em diferentes períodos históricos por Józef Czechowicz, Czesław Miłosz e Radosław Jurczak, apontando como as qualidades poéticas presentes nas suas obras transcendem as visões catastróficas e permitem a emergência de esboços de uma possível salvação. Neste sentido, trato a literatura como uma prática epistémica que, graças à força produtiva da imaginação, pode revelar o que está refreado ao raciocínio e à perceção.
Synergies Portugal, 2022
[FR]
La catastrophe climatique redéfinit la place de l'homme dans le monde et représente un grand... more [FR]
La catastrophe climatique redéfinit la place de l'homme dans le monde et représente un grand défi cognitif. Pour pouvoir discuter cette menace à l'échelle planétaire, l'humanité doit trouver de nouvelles formes d'expression. Dans son volume de poésie Ouf (2015), Laurence Vielle propose un langage poétique expérimental, entendu comme une ouverture corporelle à la réalité matérielle et aux êtres non-humains. Dans cet article, nous explorons trois facteurs clés dans les stratégies poétiques de Vielle : (1) la matérialité et la corporalité du langage, (2) la pensée féministe relationnelle, et (3) la communication affective pré-linguistique. Ces trois aspects permettent à l'auteur de s'exprimer sur les questions écologiques d'une manière qui dépasse le cadre du discours scientifique, et, en même temps, de présenter la poésie elle-même comme un phénomène écologique. Mots-clés : poésie contemporaine, poésie belge, écocritique, Laurence Vielle Partilhar respirações, partilhar o mundo.
[PT]
A catástrofe climática redefine o lugar do homem no mundo e representa um grande desafio cognitivo. A fim de debater esta ameaça à escala planetária, a humanidade deve encontrar novas formas de expressão. No seu volume de poesia Ouf (2015), Laurence Vielle propõe uma linguagem poética experimental, entendida como uma abertura corporal à realidade material, assim como aos seres não humanos. Neste artigo, exploramos três fatores-chave das estratégias poéticas de Vielle: (1) a materialidade e a corporeidade da linguagem, (2) o pensamento feminista relacional, e (3) a comunicação afetiva pré-linguística. Estes três aspetos permitem à autora escrever sobre questões ecológicas de uma forma que ultrapassa o quadro do discurso científico e, ao mesmo tempo, apresentar a própria poesia como um fenómeno ecológico.
[EN] The climate catastrophe redefines the place of humans in the world and represents a great cognitive challenge. In order to address this threat on a planetary scale, humanity must find new forms of expression. In her poetry volume Ouf (2015), Laurence Vielle creates a proposal for an experimental poetic language, understood as a corporeal opening to material reality and to non-human beings. In this article, we explore three key factors of Vielle’s poetic strategies: (1) the materiality and corporeality of language, (2) relational feminist thought, and (3) pre-linguistic affective communication. These three aspects allow the author to write about ecological issues in a way that goes beyond the framework of scientific discourse, and at the same time to portray poetry itself as an ecological phenomenon.
Rocznik Komparatystyczny, 2021
The bilingual (Polish-French) book Poetic doubling. Marian Pankowski – Polish poet of the French ... more The bilingual (Polish-French) book Poetic doubling. Marian Pankowski – Polish poet of the French language (2020) by Dorota Walczak-Delanois is an important study that fills in the gap in the research on Marian Pankowski’s poetry and its reception. By examining the poems meticulously – with a special emphasis put on entanglements between the poet’s growing bilingualism and the development of his artistic work – the author points at the rootedness of Pankowski’s poetry in Polish literary tradition and, at the same time, at his uniqueness on the map of Polish and Belgian literature in the 20th century. Pankowski’s poetic work is depicted as highly sensual, suspended between two different languages and literary traditions, and truly up-to-date, also in the context of contemporary criticism.
red. I. Boruszkowska, M. Kmiecik, J. Kornhauser, Kraków, 2020
Pamiętnik Literacki, 2019
The article attempts to research Na pewno książka kobiety (Surely a Woman’s Book), Wanda Melcer’s... more The article attempts to research Na pewno książka kobiety (Surely a Woman’s Book), Wanda Melcer’s second poetic volume, concentrating mainly on the collection’s avant-garde inspirations, and placing it in the context of various theories of woman literature. a parallel reading of Melcer’s poems and se- lected works by Polish and Italian futurists leads to concluding that the Polish poetess employed and moderated some elements of futurist themes and aesthetics. The author also researches those poems in which the poetess efforts to do intersemiotic translations from avant-garde paintings in order to create literary counterparts of pointillist or cubist technique. The article also exhibits the emancipatory implication of some lyrics—this aspect is linked with the figure of “New Woman,” and at the same time with an archetypical image of creating woman.
Ruch Literacki, 2018
This article takes up Adam Dziadek’s somatic approach to literature to explore the theme of eroti... more This article takes up Adam Dziadek’s somatic approach to literature to explore the theme of erotic experience in two poems by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, ‘L’amour Cosaque’ and ‘Amore profane’. With the help of inputs from gender studies and the contemporary theories of the subject it has been possible to profile the ‘I’ of the poems as a deeply fragmented and sexually ambiguous subject, and, upon the evidence of the elusive autobiographical details woven into the text, as a subject suspended in a liminal space, between the real and the fictive world. After analyzing the body represented in the text, both perfect and decrepit, as well as traces of the poet’s carnality that interfere with the text and the reader’s sense of his own soma the article arrives at the following conclusion: in Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz’s lyrics the body seems to project its impressions and experiences onto reality, thus blurring the border between the inside and the outside.
Bez Porównania , 2018
Artykuł zawiera analizę porównawczą dwóch dramatów o akcji osnutej wokół rytuału: II część Dziadó... more Artykuł zawiera analizę porównawczą dwóch dramatów o akcji osnutej wokół rytuału: II część Dziadów Adama Mickiewicza oraz Zdziczenie obyczajów pośmiertnych Bolesława Leśmiana. Autor pracy stara się udowodnić tezę o daleko idących podobieństwach między XIX- i XX-wiecznym dziełem, akcentuje jednocześnie różnice w wariantach realizacji poszczególnych mo- tywów, które bada w oparciu o koncepcje antropologiczne – m.in. Mircei Eliadego – oraz teatrologiczne. W artykule podkreślono znaczenie, jakie w obu utworach miał wybór rodzaju dramatycznego. Ponadto porównaniu poddano status duchów, formę i kontekst odprawianych obrzędów oraz stosunek do ludowości. Praca wpisuje się w wątek refleksji nad wpływem romantyzmu na twórczość Bolesława Leśmiana.
Kwartalnik Młodych Muzykologów UJ, 2016
The purpose of this article is to define the possible meanings and connotations of musical compos... more The purpose of this article is to define the possible meanings and connotations of musical compositions and their conversion into the lingual substance of poetry. Since the issue is varying internally and always needs particular examples, the undertaken analysis concerns two pieces of art: Fountain of Arethusa by a Polish composer Karol Szymanowski and a sonnet of the same title written by his friend and relative, writer Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. Firstly, the matter of literary title and its associations is compared in both pieces, which leads to conclusion that while the name of composition generates loose and imprecise connotations, literature requires more specification, none- theless both the composer and the poet understand mythical subject alike and reception of the work of the latter is based on emotional and semantic qualities similar to those included in the composition. Then, the subject of musical genre is depicted, with emphasis placed on literary connotations and their implications in the process of transcription of music into words. As the poet uses sonnet, which apparently has got poor connections to music, the motives of such choice are enumerated, including significance in European culture and interior dichotomy, both of which one can find in Szymanowski’s work. Further, the article describes relations between music character indications in musical score and particular lexemes in the poem. Musical work can exist in literature in many ways, first of which is being a theme of objective or subjective description. Such illustration of music in the poem is analysed. Then the euphonious and rhythmic features of the text are described in order to prove that music exists in the sonnet in its sound as well as being a scheme which is reinterpreted and imitated by the writer. The analysis shows that although one cannot translate musical matter into words, it is impossible to ignore many intersemiotic correlations between music and literature. Every example of such coexistence – either on the ground of semantics or form – must be studied individually.
Criticism by Łukasz Kraj
Amazónia (Antologia e novos poemas), 2024
Wizje, 2021
http://magazynwizje.pl/aktualnik/kraj-guimaraes/
Wizje, 2020
http://magazynwizje.pl/aktualnik/szaulinska-kraj/
Translations by Łukasz Kraj
Wielogłos 2022, nr 1(51), s. 31-48, 2022
Phytographia: Literature as Plant Writing This article develops the notion of plant writing or ph... more Phytographia: Literature as Plant Writing This article develops the notion of plant writing or phytographia, the roots of which go back to the early modern concept of signatura rerum, as well as, more recently, to Walter Benjamin's idea of a "language of things" and to Jacques Derrida's arche-writing. Phytographia designates the encounter between the plants' inscription in the world and the traces of that imprint left in literary works, mediated by the artistic perspective of the author. The final section of the essay turns to the so-called "jungle novel," set in the Amazonian rainforest, as an instantiation of phytographia.
Teorie awangardy: Antologia, red. I. Boruszkowska, M. Kmiecik, J. Kornhauser, Kraków 2020.
Ruch Literacki 2019, z. 6(357), s. 657-692
Praktyczna dekonstrukcja transcendentnego efektu odbywa się w strukturze kwiatu, tak jak w strukt... more Praktyczna dekonstrukcja transcendentnego efektu odbywa się w strukturze kwiatu, tak jak w strukturze każdej z jego części, o tyle, o ile jawi się ona lub rośnie jako taka.-Jacques Derrida, Podzwonne Jak się mają rośliny do metafizyki? Co takiego ta grupa heterogenicznych bytów-różniących się między sobą jak różni się kłos zboża od dębu-mówi nam na temat bycia "jako takiego i jako całości", nie wspominając już o podstawowych metafizycznych wartościach obecności i tożsamości, których wymaga byt rozumiany jako całość? Pesymistyczna odpowiedź na to pytanie zakłada, że w dążeniu do eliminacji różnic-na przykład pomiędzy krzewem maliny a mchem lub pomiędzy głogiem a drzewem palmowym-metafizyczna
Books by Łukasz Kraj
This study aims to conceptualise the pietà category, a profound affective response to the image o... more This study aims to conceptualise the pietà category, a profound affective response to the image of another’s suffering, and its relevance in 20th-century literature and art. The theoretical framework is established by affect theory and specific currents of non-anthropocentric humanities.
The research is divided into three sections. The first section is methodological, with two chapters. The first chapter examines the relationship between affect and the objectifying aestheticisation of suffering in literature and visual arts. The second chapter contextualises the pietà as an artistic genre and distinguishes it from pity, compassion, and mercy, locating it within anthropology.
The second section comprises four literary analyses designed to demonstrate how the experience in question reconfigures the subject’s ontological condition and opens up to the otherness subjected to violence. The four literary works analysed are Umberto Saba’s poetic cycle Casa e campagna, Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński’s poem Niobe, Clarice Lispector’s story Amor, and Tadeusz Różewicz’s play Stara kobieta wysiaduje. These works are analysed in the light of René Girard’s scapegoat theory, Hannah Arendt’s political thought joined with object studies, Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy and humanistic plant studies, and Timothy Morton’s reflections on the Anthropocene.
The third section analyses three visual pietas created at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Sam Jinks’ Still Life (Pietà) emphasises the issue of a hideous old body. Angus Fairhurst’s Pietà is interpreted as a postmodern play that stimulates the affect in the viewer. Meanwhile, Cloak of Conscience by Anna Chromý is juxtaposed with Martin Heidegger’s thought to outline the question of material objects’ time and space. The study concludes with brief remarks on the perspectives of further research on pietà, understood both as an affective category and as a genre, which appears to be an attractive point of reference for contemporary artists and writers.
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Papers by Łukasz Kraj
[PT] A partir da identificação da noção de "salvação" enquanto conceito que implica inevitavelmente a presença de uma ameaça, este artigo tem como objetivo investigar exemplos selecionados de poesia catastrofista polaca em busca de visões de salvação implícitas em imagens de catástrofe. Primeiro, traço o escopo e as principais características da corrente catastrofista, localizando-a no contexto mais amplo da história e da cultura da Polónia. Em seguida, recorrendo à antropologia literária de Wolfgang Iser, analiso três poemas, escritos em diferentes períodos históricos por Józef Czechowicz, Czesław Miłosz e Radosław Jurczak, apontando como as qualidades poéticas presentes nas suas obras transcendem as visões catastróficas e permitem a emergência de esboços de uma possível salvação. Neste sentido, trato a literatura como uma prática epistémica que, graças à força produtiva da imaginação, pode revelar o que está refreado ao raciocínio e à perceção.
La catastrophe climatique redéfinit la place de l'homme dans le monde et représente un grand défi cognitif. Pour pouvoir discuter cette menace à l'échelle planétaire, l'humanité doit trouver de nouvelles formes d'expression. Dans son volume de poésie Ouf (2015), Laurence Vielle propose un langage poétique expérimental, entendu comme une ouverture corporelle à la réalité matérielle et aux êtres non-humains. Dans cet article, nous explorons trois facteurs clés dans les stratégies poétiques de Vielle : (1) la matérialité et la corporalité du langage, (2) la pensée féministe relationnelle, et (3) la communication affective pré-linguistique. Ces trois aspects permettent à l'auteur de s'exprimer sur les questions écologiques d'une manière qui dépasse le cadre du discours scientifique, et, en même temps, de présenter la poésie elle-même comme un phénomène écologique. Mots-clés : poésie contemporaine, poésie belge, écocritique, Laurence Vielle Partilhar respirações, partilhar o mundo.
[PT]
A catástrofe climática redefine o lugar do homem no mundo e representa um grande desafio cognitivo. A fim de debater esta ameaça à escala planetária, a humanidade deve encontrar novas formas de expressão. No seu volume de poesia Ouf (2015), Laurence Vielle propõe uma linguagem poética experimental, entendida como uma abertura corporal à realidade material, assim como aos seres não humanos. Neste artigo, exploramos três fatores-chave das estratégias poéticas de Vielle: (1) a materialidade e a corporeidade da linguagem, (2) o pensamento feminista relacional, e (3) a comunicação afetiva pré-linguística. Estes três aspetos permitem à autora escrever sobre questões ecológicas de uma forma que ultrapassa o quadro do discurso científico e, ao mesmo tempo, apresentar a própria poesia como um fenómeno ecológico.
[EN] The climate catastrophe redefines the place of humans in the world and represents a great cognitive challenge. In order to address this threat on a planetary scale, humanity must find new forms of expression. In her poetry volume Ouf (2015), Laurence Vielle creates a proposal for an experimental poetic language, understood as a corporeal opening to material reality and to non-human beings. In this article, we explore three key factors of Vielle’s poetic strategies: (1) the materiality and corporeality of language, (2) relational feminist thought, and (3) pre-linguistic affective communication. These three aspects allow the author to write about ecological issues in a way that goes beyond the framework of scientific discourse, and at the same time to portray poetry itself as an ecological phenomenon.
Criticism by Łukasz Kraj
Translations by Łukasz Kraj
Books by Łukasz Kraj
The research is divided into three sections. The first section is methodological, with two chapters. The first chapter examines the relationship between affect and the objectifying aestheticisation of suffering in literature and visual arts. The second chapter contextualises the pietà as an artistic genre and distinguishes it from pity, compassion, and mercy, locating it within anthropology.
The second section comprises four literary analyses designed to demonstrate how the experience in question reconfigures the subject’s ontological condition and opens up to the otherness subjected to violence. The four literary works analysed are Umberto Saba’s poetic cycle Casa e campagna, Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński’s poem Niobe, Clarice Lispector’s story Amor, and Tadeusz Różewicz’s play Stara kobieta wysiaduje. These works are analysed in the light of René Girard’s scapegoat theory, Hannah Arendt’s political thought joined with object studies, Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy and humanistic plant studies, and Timothy Morton’s reflections on the Anthropocene.
The third section analyses three visual pietas created at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Sam Jinks’ Still Life (Pietà) emphasises the issue of a hideous old body. Angus Fairhurst’s Pietà is interpreted as a postmodern play that stimulates the affect in the viewer. Meanwhile, Cloak of Conscience by Anna Chromý is juxtaposed with Martin Heidegger’s thought to outline the question of material objects’ time and space. The study concludes with brief remarks on the perspectives of further research on pietà, understood both as an affective category and as a genre, which appears to be an attractive point of reference for contemporary artists and writers.
[PT] A partir da identificação da noção de "salvação" enquanto conceito que implica inevitavelmente a presença de uma ameaça, este artigo tem como objetivo investigar exemplos selecionados de poesia catastrofista polaca em busca de visões de salvação implícitas em imagens de catástrofe. Primeiro, traço o escopo e as principais características da corrente catastrofista, localizando-a no contexto mais amplo da história e da cultura da Polónia. Em seguida, recorrendo à antropologia literária de Wolfgang Iser, analiso três poemas, escritos em diferentes períodos históricos por Józef Czechowicz, Czesław Miłosz e Radosław Jurczak, apontando como as qualidades poéticas presentes nas suas obras transcendem as visões catastróficas e permitem a emergência de esboços de uma possível salvação. Neste sentido, trato a literatura como uma prática epistémica que, graças à força produtiva da imaginação, pode revelar o que está refreado ao raciocínio e à perceção.
La catastrophe climatique redéfinit la place de l'homme dans le monde et représente un grand défi cognitif. Pour pouvoir discuter cette menace à l'échelle planétaire, l'humanité doit trouver de nouvelles formes d'expression. Dans son volume de poésie Ouf (2015), Laurence Vielle propose un langage poétique expérimental, entendu comme une ouverture corporelle à la réalité matérielle et aux êtres non-humains. Dans cet article, nous explorons trois facteurs clés dans les stratégies poétiques de Vielle : (1) la matérialité et la corporalité du langage, (2) la pensée féministe relationnelle, et (3) la communication affective pré-linguistique. Ces trois aspects permettent à l'auteur de s'exprimer sur les questions écologiques d'une manière qui dépasse le cadre du discours scientifique, et, en même temps, de présenter la poésie elle-même comme un phénomène écologique. Mots-clés : poésie contemporaine, poésie belge, écocritique, Laurence Vielle Partilhar respirações, partilhar o mundo.
[PT]
A catástrofe climática redefine o lugar do homem no mundo e representa um grande desafio cognitivo. A fim de debater esta ameaça à escala planetária, a humanidade deve encontrar novas formas de expressão. No seu volume de poesia Ouf (2015), Laurence Vielle propõe uma linguagem poética experimental, entendida como uma abertura corporal à realidade material, assim como aos seres não humanos. Neste artigo, exploramos três fatores-chave das estratégias poéticas de Vielle: (1) a materialidade e a corporeidade da linguagem, (2) o pensamento feminista relacional, e (3) a comunicação afetiva pré-linguística. Estes três aspetos permitem à autora escrever sobre questões ecológicas de uma forma que ultrapassa o quadro do discurso científico e, ao mesmo tempo, apresentar a própria poesia como um fenómeno ecológico.
[EN] The climate catastrophe redefines the place of humans in the world and represents a great cognitive challenge. In order to address this threat on a planetary scale, humanity must find new forms of expression. In her poetry volume Ouf (2015), Laurence Vielle creates a proposal for an experimental poetic language, understood as a corporeal opening to material reality and to non-human beings. In this article, we explore three key factors of Vielle’s poetic strategies: (1) the materiality and corporeality of language, (2) relational feminist thought, and (3) pre-linguistic affective communication. These three aspects allow the author to write about ecological issues in a way that goes beyond the framework of scientific discourse, and at the same time to portray poetry itself as an ecological phenomenon.
The research is divided into three sections. The first section is methodological, with two chapters. The first chapter examines the relationship between affect and the objectifying aestheticisation of suffering in literature and visual arts. The second chapter contextualises the pietà as an artistic genre and distinguishes it from pity, compassion, and mercy, locating it within anthropology.
The second section comprises four literary analyses designed to demonstrate how the experience in question reconfigures the subject’s ontological condition and opens up to the otherness subjected to violence. The four literary works analysed are Umberto Saba’s poetic cycle Casa e campagna, Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński’s poem Niobe, Clarice Lispector’s story Amor, and Tadeusz Różewicz’s play Stara kobieta wysiaduje. These works are analysed in the light of René Girard’s scapegoat theory, Hannah Arendt’s political thought joined with object studies, Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy and humanistic plant studies, and Timothy Morton’s reflections on the Anthropocene.
The third section analyses three visual pietas created at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Sam Jinks’ Still Life (Pietà) emphasises the issue of a hideous old body. Angus Fairhurst’s Pietà is interpreted as a postmodern play that stimulates the affect in the viewer. Meanwhile, Cloak of Conscience by Anna Chromý is juxtaposed with Martin Heidegger’s thought to outline the question of material objects’ time and space. The study concludes with brief remarks on the perspectives of further research on pietà, understood both as an affective category and as a genre, which appears to be an attractive point of reference for contemporary artists and writers.