Syndrom i niepachnący szafran. Jerozolima w Izrael już nie frunie Pawła Smoleńskiego

Abstract

The article analyzes the image of Jerusalem in Israel Is No Longer Flying [Izrael już nie frunie] by Gazeta Wyborcza reporter and writer Pawel Smoleński. It is a collection of reportages published in 2006 and the sixth book Smoleński has devoted to Jews and Arabs, their conflicts, and coexistence. In Smoleński’s work, there is a clear, somewhat secondary inspiration from the technique of reportage used by Ryszard Kapuściński. The article’s author analyzes the most interesting moments in the narrative “where Smoleński abandons the role of an omniscient narrator, who, following the example of the author of The Shadow of the Sun, tries to convince the reader that he has discovered the true nature of Jerusalem. At the Wailing Wall and on the Via Dolorosa, Smoleński reveals his subjective experience of the holy sites of the Holy City, as well as his doubts, weaknesses, feelings, and emotions. That is why, despite everything, I perceive his first experience of Jerusalem described in Israel Is No Longer Flying as authentic and giving credence to his subjective message about Jerusalem being the most extraordinary city on Earth.”