| Summary: | This thesis examines the function of philosophy and parody in the novels and
pseudo-autobiographical writings, in translation, of the Polish author Witold
Gombrowicz (1904-1969). It is intended not as an introduction, but as an analysis and
explication to readers already familiar with Gombrowicz's work.
Problems:
This thesis examines Gombrowicz's philosophical/theoretical system of
Interhumanity, and elucidates such concepts within that system as the "individual,"
"inaccessibility," "inauthenticity," "Form," the "Formal Imperative," and "Chaos."
It analyses the portrayal of Interhumanity within Gombrowicz's novels, and the various
levels at which Interhumanity is illustrated as operating. It identifies, through
Gombrowicz's system of Interhumanity, as well as through other aspects of his works,
the function of paradox, parody and satire. Finally, it attempts to "situate" Gombrowicz
within the paradigm of the 20l -century novel.
Methods:
The methodology employed consists of an examination of Gombrowicz's Diary
and A Kind of Testament, for its arguments regarding Interhumanity; an examination of
the novels Ferdydurke, Trans-Atlantyk, Pornografia, and Cosmos, to illustrate
Gombrowicz's use of these novels as vehicles to portray the consequences of
Interhumanity, at both the interpersonal and the communal level; an examination of the
function of parody and satire in Gombrowicz's novels, and Gombrowicz's utilization of
these devices to delineate his views on philosophy, art, and human behavior; and a
discussion of Gombrowicz's context within the 20th-century novel through the analysis
of his relationship to Modernism and postmodernism.
Conclusions:
Gombrowicz's system represents a serious intellectual attempt to describe the human
condition, and in certain respects anticipates Existentialism, Structuralism, and poststructuralism.
His novels function as vehicles for the delineation of Interhumanity, and
thus of Gombrowicz's specific world-view, which posits an existence centered around the
binary of pain and laughter. Gombrowicz further employs Interhumanity as a means of
invoking his preferred literary techniques, parody and satire, as well as his predilection
for paradoxes and antinomies. In terms of the 20th-century novel, Gombrowicz emerges
as one of its major satirists and parodists, and as a precursor to the "postmodern" novel.
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