Między rozpaczą i nadzieją. Eksplikacja filozofii egzystencjalnej w prozie Gustawa Herlinga-Grudzińskiego: Don Ildebrando

Abstract

Herling-Grudziński’s collection of stories entitled Don Ildebrando not only constitutes a new development within the genre, which results from his seeking the most appropriate form enabling him to record the experience of the Secret of Existence, but it also provides evidence for the author’s artistry. He avoids verbosity as well as enhances his texts with elements of intriguing philosophical discourse. Everyone has to hunt for traces of evil along with the narrator in order to approach the mystery of the writer’s works. When evil affects man, it becomes a factor that defines his condition and imposes a tragic dimension. Evil in Don Ildebrando does not exclusively represent abstract nature. It is embeded in man’s existence, therefore the recollection of Mounier’s personalism, which is close to Herling-Grudziński’s philosophy, is reasonable. The idea of personalism emphasizes the ongoing feeling of tragic existence, which surrounds man. The context required to read the functions of a philosophical discourse of the stories is based on the concepts of philosophers who are, along with Mounier, considered to be the creators of 20th-century existentialism. According to Herling-Grudziński, they are Blaise Pascal, Søren Kierkegaard and Lev Shestov. The text aims at presenting Herling-Grudziński’s philosophy which is derived from existentialism and places the existence of man experiencing evil between despair and hope.