Citation

Mrowcewicz K. Teksty Drugie 2020; 2020(6): 353-367.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020)

DOI

10.18318/td.2020.6.2l

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Mrowcewicz explores the voyeuristic element in The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Count Jan Potocki, a book about peeping, tracking, investigating - a novel about windows, parted curtains, keyholes, mirrors; a tale of fragments, repetitions and deceptive reflections. It can be read as the capitulation of the scholar and the writer of the enlightenment, who must eventually acknowledge that humankind's cognitive tools are imperfect, our helplessness regarding the world, which we can only perceive in fragments and reflections. In this sense Potocki's suicide - he shot himself facing a wall - becomes symbolical. © 2020 Polska Akademia Nauk. All rights reserved.

Language: pl

Keywords

Cognition; Knowledge; Reflection; Enlightenment; Voyeurism; Fragment; Jan Potocki