University of Alberta The Interrupted Narrative. Tadeusz Peiper and His Vision of Literature (1918-1939) by Piotr Grella-Mozejko © A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Comparative Literature Edmonton, Alberta Fall 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-46324-6 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-46324-6 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada For: my Father, Prof. Edward Mozejko Kasia Zoledziowski Anya Grella-Mozejko with deep gratitude The Interrupted Narrative. Tadeusz Peiper and His Vision of Literature (1918-1939) Abstract This doctoral dissertation focuses on the Polish avant-garde thinker and practi­ tioner Tadeusz Peiper (1891 - 1969) (who was active mainly between the First and the Second World Wars) and on his work in the literary domains of theory, criticism, poetry, drama and novel. Between 1918 and 1939 Peiper had become the leading theorist of the Polish avant-garde in general and the so-called Krakow Avant-garde [Awangarda krakowska] in particular. His role as a leader of the progressive literary movement in the newly-independent Poland is hard to overestimate - and begs to be investigated from both the historical and criti­ cal perspectives. The dissertation is intended to offer a detailed descriptive an­ alysis of Peiper's writings, his theories and criticism, as well as their manifesta­ tions within the realm of creative writing. It is argued that without Peiper's broad influence, the avant-garde movement in Poland - and its subsequent international image - would be incomplete. Based on significant examples, many translated from Polish into English for the first time, the dissertation offers a comparative analysis, and later, a summary of the development of Peiper's thought within the context of the Polish and European avant-garde and modernist movements; it deals at length with relationships between Peiper's theories and their practical manifestations - his critical writings, poetry, drama and prose. Foreword: The Interrupted Narrative The dissertation focuses on the Polish avant-garde thinker and practitioner Tadeusz Peiper (1891 - 1969), who was active mainly between the First and the Second World Wars, and on his work in the literary domains of theory, criti­ cism, poetry, drama and novel. Between 1918 and 1939 Peiper had become the leading theorist of the Polish avant-garde in general and the so-called Awan- garda krakowska [Krakow Avant-garde] in particular. His role as a leader of the progressive literary movement in the newly-independent Poland is hard to overestimate - and begs to be investigated from both the historical and critical perspectives. The dissertation is intended to offer a detailed descriptive analysis of Peiper's writings, his theories and criticism, as well as their manifestations within the realm of creative writing. It is argued that without Peiper's broad influence, the avant-garde movement in Poland—and its subsequent interna­ tional image—would be incomplete. Through his theories, critical articles, and artistic endeavours such as po­ etry, novel(s) and stage works, Peiper was able to offer an interesting and origi­ nal alternative to Polish Futurism, Expressionism and traditional offshoots of pre-First World War Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism and Symbolism, as well as to two main "made in Poland" movements: the radical Formists and the classicist Skamander groups. Throughout the twenty years between the wars, Peiper, then and now often referred to as the "Pope" of the Polish avant-garde (or at least the "pope" of Polish avant-garde poetry), attracted a closely-knit group of followers who gradually came to the forefront of Polish literature. The fact that in the end many of these followers chose creative and theoretical paths different from the ones proposed by Peiper does not in any way under­ rate the latter's importance as—along with Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (the famous Witkacy) and Leon Chwistek—possibly the most conscious and well- read, intellectually refined (one would say "cosmopolitan" in the best sense of the word), disciplined, versatile and forward-looking of all his contemporary Polish literary theoreticians. The aim of the dissertation is to offer an inte­ grated look at the various aspects of Peiper's theoretical and creative output, as well as to (re)evaluate his position in the broader context of European avant- garde and modernism. Based on significant examples, many translated from Polish into English for the first time, the dissertation offers an analysis, and later, a summary of the development of Peiper's thought within the context of the Polish and European avant-garde and modernist movements;1 it deals at length with relationships between Peiper's theories and their practical manifestations - his critical writ­ ings, poetry, drama and prose. [A note on the approach to translation: in most cases every effort had been made to capture Peiper's unique style, both in his critical prose and poetry. Al- Peiper witnessed the outbreak of the First World War in Paris where, among others, he at­ tended Bergson's lectures. A citizen of the Austro-Hungarian empire, he was allowed to leave for Spain where he could receive money from Poland (his family was fairly well off), and where he remained until 1921. In Spain, he met numerous avant-garde artists and began his critical work by publishing in a local periodical (in Spanish). There he also began his work as a transla­ tor. See: Stanislaw Jaworski, U podstaw awangardy. Tadeusz Peiper pisarz i teoretyk. (Krakow: Wydawnictwo Literackie 1980) 10-15. though several of his poems have been already translated into English, they were not used in this text in their existing English renditions, for they seemed too literal, too prose-like. Alternatively, these and other poems were translated with Peiper's intricate poetic technique in mind, and involving assonances, dis­ tant rhymes, irregular metre and the like. When necessary, the usual—always small—liberties were taken in regards to Peiper's original lexis and syntax in order to convey his messages more clearly to the English reader. Such liberties never affect the overall content of a poem or prose fragment preselected for translation.] Given the interconnectedness of Peiper's theories and praxis, it seems feas­ ible in my project to deal simultaneously with Peiper the theorist and critic, along with Peiper the poet, dramatist and novelist. i° Of the three aforementioned major Polish contributions to aesthetics dur­ ing the inter-war period—those of Witkacy, Chwistek and Peiper—Peiper's was decidedly the most positive, pragmatic and consciously divested of serious philosophical discourse. If, on the one hand, Witkacy's integral system of cata­ strophic monadic philosophy (he called it biological monadism) imbued his theory of Pure Form with metaphysical despair, and, on the other hand, Chwistek's rational, anti-metaphysical approach through formal logic and sci­ entific methods laid foundations for his Theory of Plurality of Realities in art,2 Peiper's anti-psychological, pragmatic theory focussed on technical aspects of Jerzy Kwiatkowski. Dwudziestolecie miqdzywojenne [The Twenty Interwar Years] (Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN 2001) 17-30. craftsmanship such as poetic sentence, metaphor and the ensuant form. It can be argued that, in spite of Witkacy's and Chwistek's "fashionableness," Peiper's project resulted in and exercised a more far-reaching influence then the other two. 20 Another convincing point can be made in relation to Peiper's masterly approach to art and literary criticism. In many instances his critical statements anticipated creative discoveries in