What is Filipowicz dreaming about? – an Attempt to Analyze Kornel Filipowicz’s Story Gdy przychodzą we śnie (When They come in a Dream) from the Perspective of Broadly Understood Eexistential Philosophy

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to interpret the story Gdy przychodzą we śnie (When they come in a dream) by Kornel Filipowicz using the category introduced to literary studies by Michał Januszkiewicz - the so-called existentialist point of view. It is a procedure aimed at discovering the meaning of the exceptional text, as it does not fit into the typical themes of Filipowicz, the eulogist of the Polish province, and the bard of everyday life. The work was written in 1979 and was published in the collection Koncert f-moll i inne opowiadania, published in 1982. This story, making a great impression on today's reader because of the exceptional topicality of the topic, which is the phenomenon of mass immigration from African countries to Europe, evokes the desire to ascribe to author of prophetic abilities. This is the source of many misunderstandings, which in turn leads to the conclusion by researchers of this prose that it is not easy to reach its essential meanings. Hence, an interesting proposal is to look at it from the perspective of broadly understood existential philosophy, in particular the thoughts of Heidegger, Sartre, Jaspers, Camus, thinkers who cannot be ignored when discussing contemporary literature. From this perspective, this unique story takes on new content. It leads, if not to a full understanding of its meaning, then at least to the discovery of previously hidden meanings.