„Tu się miesza prawda, tu się gubi czas...”. O związkach literatury i lasu w najnowszej prozie polskiej

Abstract

This article concentrates on the forest narratives in recent Polish literature. The author refers to the concept of dendrography proposed by Magdalena Roszczynialska, i.e. records for which trees and forests are the theme or the structural pattern. Specifically the article analyzes two storylines which centre on the theme of forest. In the first one, the forest is a phantasmagorical and liminal space, a place of initiation for the protagonists, while in the second, it becomes a centre stage for current problems related to the climate and refugee crisis. The author analyses the works of J. Słowinska, A. Kuchmister, A. Mazurek and J. Fiedorczuk, also pointing to the theme of forest in non-fiction literature. The article shows how “ecohistories” activate post-memory, ecocritical and ecofeminist modes of reading. Here, the forest does not merely play the role of a background or setting, but also gains agency.