Tropy sacrum w poezji Jana Czykwina

Abstract

The objectives of this article are twofold: to address the question of how the category of the sacred (sacrum) manifests itself in the poetry of the Belarusian poet Jan Czykwin, and to present specific methodological proposals that may prove useful for further exploration of this issue. To this end, the study employs the method of “tracing the sacred,” as proposed by Zofia Zarębianka. The analysis reveals that the sacred in Jan Czykwin’s poetry is primarily rooted in the Christian worldview and emerges as an implicit yet significant element of his literary output. The uniqueness of Czykwin’s sacrum lies in its incorporation into the Polish literary discourse of a coexistence between the two major Christian traditions – Eastern and Western – a feature characteristic of Belarusian literature. This incorporation stems from the dual affiliation of Czykwin’s poetry with both Belarusian and Polish literary traditions, shaped by his Belarusian national identity, his birth and residence within the territory of the Polish state, and his cultural ties to the Polish tradition. Promising methodological approaches include examining sacred motifs in Czykwin’s poems through the lens of the category of “spirituality,” a relatively novel concept within the Polish literary sacrology, as well as conducting comparative analyses of his poetic sacrum with the works of Belarusian writers from Belarus.