Whitman and Milosz's America

Streszcz. po ang., bibliogr. Wersja tekstu w j. pol.: DOI 10.4467/16891864ePC.13.017.1206

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.