Między demonizmem a symboliką wolnomularską: podziemne struktury przestrzenne w Rękopisie znalezionym w Saragossie Jana Potockiego

Abstract

This article aims to analyze various ways in which the underground level of Sierra Morena mountains and other subterranean spaces are depicted in Jan Potocki’s famous novel. Multiple images of cave homes or even palaces, gold mine and dungeons evoke various traditions and symbols, such as fantastic or horror story themes, Masonic imagery and figures of melancholy. They can also be seen as an expression of the inevitable social and economical changes as well as a metaphor of literary self-reflexivity. Symbolical ambiguity of this images emphasize the polysemy of Potocki’s novel and its predisposition to be read in multifarious ways.