Przestrzenne odniesienia czasowych faz biografii

Abstract

The author proposes to complement her original concept of autobiographic spatial coordinates by adding another ‘axis’, namely time dimension. She reverses Karl Schl ¨ogel’s idea of reading time in space, and notices spatial categories of time (points and stages). Here the cultural concept of life as a road exposes two extreme reference points: birth and death, with life stages in between. The text, consequently, illustrates in numerous ways how important the following elements are: birthplace, spatial stability in childhood, spatial mobility in adolescence (educational journey). It additionally proves that space becomes of secondary importance in adulthood, when it yields to other determinants, such as professional choices, social standing, and gender. In old age, however, spatial dimension emerges again, this time to mark the end of social activity and the dicrease in physical mobility. Finally, in cultural terms, grave, a specifically situated place, seems to resonate with meaning. Interesting is the fact that all of these biographical points and phases correspond to various traditional literary genres, and that their norms are as much respected as they are questioned in modern literature.