Zapiski z dna duszy. O "Requiem aeternam..." Stanisława Przybyszewskiego

Abstract

Notes from the bottom of the soul. On Stanisław Przybyszewski’s Requiem aeternam...

The aim of the article is to reveal the conceptual order of Stanisław Przybyszewski’s Requiem aeternam... The order is made up of two main narratives. I have termed them a story of failed self-therapy and a story of conflict with the mother. The story of failed self-therapy, exposing the Oedipal inclinations of the narrator-protagonist, includes a fantasy about tainted conception, a fantasy about second conception, a fantasy about incest and a fantasy about androgynous synthesis. The story of conflict with the mother, showing the protagonist’s reaction to the mother’s opposition, is made up of a fantasy about rejection of the mother, a fantasy about her killing and a fantasy about her apotheosis. The work ends with a suicide scene, which provides a logical conclusion to both stories.