Głos wewnętrzny nowego człowieka – Księgi Jakubowe Olgi Tokarczuk i Ćwiczenia duchowne Przemysława Dakowicza

Abstract

T. S. Eliot’s reference to the “inner voice” in The Function of Criticism is the starting point for this essay. For Eliot, the inner voice, or individual set of beliefs, amounts to a contradiction between the writer’s principles and commitments arising from cultural tradition. It is a good point of departure for the comparison of two works of contemporary Polish literature: Olga Tokarczuk’s Księgi Jakubowe (The Books of Jacob) and Przemysław Dakowicz’s Ćwiczenia duchowne (Spiritual exercises). In both of these works, the perspective of the inner voice is important, revealing the problems of the new man. In spite of their differences, both works present the new man as a being dramatically immersed in the abyss of the inner voice.