Polskim śladem po Syberii i Jakucji – z przewodnikiem Michałem Książkiem

Abstract

This essay analyzes Sakha: A Dictionary of Place by Michał Książek (Wołowiec, 2013), which stands out among canonical Polish narrations on Siberia, including those derived from the Romantic code, as well as later travel reportage. Roszczynialska describes the privatized and indigenous perspective adopted by the text, its connection to the ethnographic convention of dense description, as well as its use of a point of view characteristic for cultural linguistics. She describes the textual strategies used by the reporter, which are based in the worldview of tradi tional cultures, and which are related to the processes of amalgamation. These strategies relate to three levels: dzoe, bios, and logos. The reporter points to Polish textual traces through Sakha: W. Sieroszewski’s reconstruction of place and E. Pierkarski’s reconstruction of lexicon. However, he goes beyond imaginary and even ethnographic conventions of the description of place, preferring the practice of biopoetics (a melding of dzoe and bios). The practice of place through navigating Sieroszewski’s routes and experiencing place with the help of a spatial lexicon determined by the local biom leads the reporter toward the “detextualization” of Siberia/Sakha.