VERSOS OF VIEWS: POETIC STRATEGIES OF DESCRIPTION IN JERZY FICOWSKI’S PROSE POEMS

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26485/PP/2026/81/11

Keywords:

Literary description, prose poem, Jerzy Ficowski, presence, surface reading, descriptive turn

Abstract

The article offers a reading of three prose poems from Jerzy Ficowski’s collection Amulety i definicje [Amulets and Definitions], framed using categories drawn from the analyzed texts: the underside, the verso, and turning inside-out (nicowanie). It presents the tenets of the surface reading approach and, alluding to the surface-depth opposition discussed within this framework, elaborates on the concept of the poetic device proposed by structuralists. The study examines Ficowski’s descriptive strategy, focusing on the literary strategy of turning words and objects inside-out, achieved through the combination of poetic devices (amulets) and the vitality of prose description (definitions). Drawing on this duality, the article presents Ficowski’s prose poems as the literary equivalent of the physical dynamics of movement – circling around, lifting, and turning an object of attention – allowing for a shift in perspective that enables a multidimensional, spatialized perception of things.

Author Biography

Zofia Paetz, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu

Magister filologii polskiej, doktorantka w Szkole Doktorskiej Nauk o Języku i Literaturze Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu. Naukowo zajmuje się zwrotem deskryptywnym, studiami nad obecnością i spekulacją, badając związki opisów literackich z postawami antycypacyjnymi w prozie polskiej. Publikowała w „Forum Poetyki”, „Tekstach Drugich”, „Wielogłosie” i monografii zbiorowej New Surfaces, New Depths. Contemporary Methodologies in the Studies of 20th and 21st Century Polish Literature (2022).

Titulaire d’un Master en philologie polonaise, doctorante à l’École doctorale des sciences du langage et de la littérature de l’Université Adam Mickiewicz. Ses recherches portent sur la question de la description, les études sur la présence et les études spéculatives, ainsi que sur les liens entre les descriptions littéraires et les attitudes anticipatoires dans la prose polonaise. Elle a publié dans « Forum Poetyki », « Teksty Drugie », « Wielogłos » et dans l’ouvrage collectif New Surfaces, New Depths. Contemporary Methodologies in the Studies of 20th and 21st Century Polish Literature (2022).

Published

2026-01-14

How to Cite

Paetz, Z. (2026). VERSOS OF VIEWS: POETIC STRATEGIES OF DESCRIPTION IN JERZY FICOWSKI’S PROSE POEMS. Prace Polonistyczne, 81. https://doi.org/10.26485/PP/2026/81/11

Issue

Vol. 81 (2026): From the prose poem to slam: the evolution of poetic narrative from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century

Section

III. CONFIRMATIONS OF THE PROSE POEM IN AUTHORIZED REALIZATIONS OF THE 20TH CENTURY

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.