mgr Aleksandra Nowak

ORCID: 0000-0002-9030-0888

The topic of my dissertation is “The poetic work of Adriana Szymańska”

Adriana Szymańska is a contemporary poet, novelist, essayist, literary critic, winner of many major literary prizes, born in 1943 in Toruń. She is the author of more than twenty volumes of poetry, two novels based on biographical motifs, children's books, a journal of her journey across North America, a collection of essays, and a number of sketches on contemporary poetry, published in various magazines and in the form of literary criticism books.

The thematically rich poetry of Szymańska’s has not yet been the subject of a comprehensive discussion, which is why this doctoral dissertation is intended to fill this gap.

The primary aim is to examine the entire poetic output of Szymańska’s and to situate it against the background of contemporary times. The research problem is therefore the answer to the question: to what extent is the poetic work of the author of The Human Name original on the map of contemporary Polish poetry. The conducted analyses and conclusions will be presented in a problem-based arrangement.

One of the assumptions of this research is to isolate the basic themes present in Szymańska's poetic output, taking into account her creative biography, which has a significant influence on the shape of the majority of her works, since the poetry of the author of Green Blinds closely connected with her private experiences.

Another objective is to present a picture of the family sites, as well as to indicate the poet's literary "places" that are directly related to the travels she has made (European countries, North America).

The analysis and interpretation of selected works will also point to various contextual references present in her poems. Her works are rich in genre references, as well as references to literature, music, painting, sculpture, architecture, philosophy, and fields beyond his humanistic interests. This literary dissertation will therefore present an interdisciplinary approach.

Szymańska's poems also display the influence of various poets - above all Julian Przyboś and Bolesław Leśmian. They can be discerned especially when the poet considers the problem of man's relationship with nature, which is at the same time connected with the affirmative attitude adopted by the speaker of these lyrical works.

Metaphysical issues also occupy an important place in the poetic output of the author of The Human Name, and they are present in frequent references to cosmology. Moreover, in the conducted research on the lyrical output of Szymańska’s, important are the later works, which take on the character of a summary, a settlement both in the existential and artistic plan.

The poetic output of Szymańska’s is distinguished by a multitude of themes and motifs, providing appropriate material for comparison, analysis and interpretation. From yet another perspective, this dissertation will be an introduction to broader research into the writings of the author of Green Blinds. The analysis of poems from all of Szymańska's published collections of poetry and the problematization of the themes that appear in them will enrich the research conducted by literary scholars on contemporary literature - especially poetry.

Publications:

  1. Nowak A., Obrazy tanatologiczne w tetralogii Marii Dąbrowskiej „Noce i dnie”, „Studia Filologiczne Uniwersytetu Jana Kochanowskiego”, tom 33, pod red. Z. Trzaskowskiego, Kielce 2020, s. 354-367.
  2. Nowak A., Problem miłości utraconej na podstawie „*** [Jestem Julią]” Haliny Poświatowskiej oraz „Białych zeszytów” Agnieszki Osieckiej (na lekcji języka polskiego w szkole średniej), „Dydaktyka Polonistyczna”, nr 7(16), pod red. A. Kucharskiej-Babuli, Rzeszów 2021, s. 210-224.
  1. Nowak A., Muzyczne filiacje w poezji Adriany Szymańskiej, [w:] Literatura, kultura, sztuka i media, pod red. B. Stelingowskiej, seria „Perspektywy Ponowoczesności”, t. XII, Ośrodek Badawczy Facta Ficta, Wrocław 2022, s. 413-435.