Czytelnik Miłosza sięga po Syrokomlę. Szkolne czasy. Nowe opowiadanie Jana Dęboroga w perspektywie odwróconej

Abstract

The article on W. Syrokomla’s poetic tales about Jan Dęboróg (Born Jan Dęboróg), especially School Times of Jan Dęboróg, proposes to appreciate the work of the suburban Vilnius Romantic by viewing it from an inverted perspective. What comes to the fore here is an interpretation of Cz. Miłosz’s hundred years later poem, Miasto bez imienia [A City without a Name], in the end of which the title character of the tale Born Jan Dęboróg is prominently featured. This distinction may be surprising, as Miłosz in his writings mentions Syrokomla sporadically and sometimes even rather condescendingly. However, a deeper analysis reveals that there are important similarities between Miłosz’s and Syrokomla’s works, especially the sense of the inevitability of being anachronistic, the attachment to ‚familiar names’ and, finally, the characteristic ‚work of memory’ that saves them.