The New New Wave. On the Mature Poetry of Jacek Świerk

Abstract

The article discusses the presence of elements typical for the poetics of Polish New Wave writers famous during the turn of 1960s and 1970s in the works of one of the interesting contemporary poets − Jacek Świerk. Although his literary debut took place twenty years ago, and in the meantime Świerk has published numerous poems and translations, it is certainly his latest volume Żucie wewnętrzne (2024) that provides a representative collection of mature poetry, characteristic of the poet's clearly developed style. As the interpretative analysis of Świerk's works indicates, New Wave realism and engagement with the diagnosis of political and social reality, ironic language games, and the use of „foreign word” (in the form of quotes, paraphrases, translations) are still effectively applied today, inspiring a critical yet nuanced evaluation of the condition of 21st-century human beings − lost in a world of axiological confusion, informational chaos, shifting internet trends, and serious spiritual and moral crises.