Narracje o stracie wytwarzane wokół przedmiotów. Kilka uwag o "Rzeczach, których nie wyrzuciłem" Marcina Wichy oraz Umarł mi. Notatniku żałoby" Ingi Iwasiów

Narratives of loss produced around objects. A few notes on “Rzeczy, których nie wyrzuciłem” by Marcin Wicha and “Umarł mi. Notatnik żałoby” by Inga Iwasiów

Maria Zielniewicz in the chapter Narratives of loss produced around objects. A few notes on “Rzeczy, których nie wyrzuciłem” by Marcin Wicha and “Umarł mi. Notatnik żałoby” by Inga Iwasiów proposes an analysis of both novels stirring the issue of the loss of close relatives. The proposed interpretation aims to show how “the turn towards things”, which has been present in humanities since the 1990s, is implemented in contemporary Polish prose. In this context, reflection on the everyday life is linked to questions about the family past, the “causality of things” or the relationship between the human and the object. In Marcin Wicha’s prose, his origin is of particular importance which intensifies the experience of loss. Apart from the story of his mother's death, there is also the story of a family gradually stripped of its Jewish identity after World War II. In the case of Inga Iwasiów's novel, the sudden death of her father is an impulse to follow the various stages of preparing the funeral. Besides recording her own feelings, it is also important to experience mourning together with her mother. The use of the concept of the cultural biography of things by Igor Kopytoff, Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory or category of bustle by Jolanta Brach-Czaina on the one hand allows to discuss the meaning of the objects belonging to the deceased people and, on the other hand – to present personal stories, for which the starting point are the items left behind after they died. In turn, the ideas of organizing or discarding objects can be understood as a process of coming to terms with death or working through trauma. In this context, it is also about “rearranging” your everyday life. These narratives increase the value of the material sphere, thus exceeding the anthropocentric perspective (but it is not excluded entirely). This interaction of things and people proves that “causality” is not exclusively attributed to the human individual. In addition objects play an important role in learning and experiencing reality.