Topos of the Province in Polish Literature

Abstract

This chapter is devoted to an analysis of the specific ways in which the Province functions as a literary topos in Polish literature. The theoretical framework draws on structuralism (Roland Barthes), geopoetics (Elżbieta Rybicka), and postcolonial studies (Agnieszka Matusiak, Yaroslav Polishchuk). This interdisciplinary approach makes it possible to examine the following aspects: from a semiotic perspective, the topos of the Province emerges as a symbolic component of the cultural space constructed in literature; the narrative structures of works focused on the Province include such recurring elements as the motif of escape from / return to / life in the Province; the asymmetry between center and periphery; and the symbolic interpretation of Life / Death and Eternity / Transience through geographical imagery and biographical storytelling. The author analyzes the works of Olga Tokarczuk and Andrzej Stasiuk, highlighting the key elements that shape the topos of the Province in their prose. The Polish model of this topos emphasizes yet another dimension – postcolonial experience – which is evident in Tokarczuk’s prose (e.g., The Province as an Idyllic Place) and Stasiuk’s narratives (e.g., The Province. The Road Beyond the Horizon). The topos of the Province thus emerges as a complex topo-cultural construct in which the Self and the Other, the concepts of Center and Periphery, urban spaces, and landscape imagery are intricately interwoven.