The paper deals with the concept of the work of art in Polish literary criticism of
the last fi fty years. The focus of analyses and comparison are three major books
of literary criticism: Andrzej Kijowski Arcydzieło nieznane (1964), Tomasz Burek
Dalej aktualne (1973) and Wojciech Wencel Przepis na arcydzieło (2003). The category
of a masterpiece recurs in the authors’ writings as a key critical metaphor
setting the model of perfect literature (art) which is postulated, required and
yet defi ned in negative terms (‘absence’, ‘incompleteness’, ‘unreadiness’). Thus,
a masterpiece is a critical project extrapolated to the future or the past and, at the
same time, a measure applied to the contemporary literature and the contemporary
reader. Kijowski, Burek and Wencel in their search for masterpieces differ in
their conception of the criteria required for an artwork to be a masterpiece. However,
this presentation proves that appetite for a masterpiece is a major ‘myth’ of
Polish literary criticism.
number of pulisher's sheets:
1,1
affiliation:
Wydział Polonistyki : Katedra Komparatystyki Literackiej, Wydział Polonistyki : Katedra Krytyki Współczesnej