Bibliogr. s. 23

The word and the image - these two important aspects of Bruno Schulz's works are worth discussing. How does one influence the other? Which of them appeared as the first inspiration in the writer's mind? Schulz is not only a prose writer, but also a painter. For this reason it can be assumed that he thinks through both pictures and words. Both categories entail the sign. The sign leads us to the field of semiotics and poetics. We should look for answers on these two levels of language. A "metaphor" means a movement of sense. It can concern the past, the present and the future. Consequently, a metaphor means the complete expression. We might say that words give us the best possibility to express our thoughts and the image loses the battle with the word. The inadequacy of the word can be endorsed as well by the Peirce's theory of sign, which perceives the image as an index relating exclusively to the present. No progress may be achieved without the metaphor and movement. In Schulz's view, the image kills its object, depicting it as motionless. That is why the writer had to take a pen in his hand. Only through words could he look for the true sense.