“Reaction to the reality of the world”. Elaborat by Donat Kirsch as a contribution to the discussion about the new prose of the 1970s

Abstract

The author analyses Donat Kirsch’s essay Elaborat – debiuty lat siedemdziesiątych. This Polish, non well-known writer of the 1970s describes the literature of that period, especially the trend known as “the young prose” and tries to explain how it emerged, developed and disappeared. His discourse is built on opposition “live-dead”, characteristic for Polish Modernism, what is more, it combines avant-garde concepts of literature and Foucault’s terms such as language and discourse, which is quite unique. Kirsch says that modernity obscures language and makes it almost non-useable, so the novel, in particular the experimental novel, should deal with that fact. Such demand is utopian but necessary, otherwise literature could not cope with reality and human alienation becomes deeper and almost unbearable. Essayist points out that “the young prose” had not succeeded, but he predicted this failure. This diagnose is awkward, but its source is in Kirsch’s discourse: he is convinced that he proposes different non-modern / post-modern literature, but it is quite the opposite, therefore all the limitations and paradoxes of modern literature still stand.