6533b873fe1ef96bd12d457b

RESEARCH PRODUCT

"Ein deutsches Tagebuch" Stefana Chwina

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The main themes of this article are connected with reading the prose of Stefan Chwin: Kartki z dziennika [Pages of a diary] (2004) and Dziennik dla dorosłych [A diary for adults] (2008), which selected and translated by Marta Kijowska came out in Berlin, under the title: Ein deutsches Tagebuch. The weekly Die Zeit placed it on the list of the ten best books of 2015. In the context of this distinction, reading Chwin’s diaries becomes a unique putting values to test, a discovery of the significance of the author’s voice in discussions about the condition of modem world and contemporary human being. This is so because a close reading of Chwin’s diaries allows us not only to cognitively go through themes and problems related to modemity, which open in many directions, but also forces us to overcome conventional frames of its picture, makes us anxious about changes in the perspective of the view, provokes thought pattems and tamed axiologies. This is a vital experience gained upon reading the “pages” of Chwin ’s diaries, flowing from the comments on the reality (reflections on literature, culture, history, religion, politics and ideology, distant and close contemporary times as well as the past; fictional and non-fictional worlds), which they contain. Bringing the tone of the author’s voice closer (at times ironically), listening to its sound among other ‘voices’ and contexts causes modem humanistic discoursc to appear through strongly varied thcmatic lines, melodies and individual rhythms. From this perspective, “listening” to the author’s utterance (very vivid against the background of Polish landscapc) is a good point of reference to perceive morc and more motifs in the discussion developed by Stefan Chwin (contestations, polemics, reflections, “refercnces” to his own and othcr authors’ outputs, ethics-marked opinions, attitudes and views).