Wojciech Tochman and Wojciech Jagielski: the Styles of Contemporary War Reports

Ewa Sławek

(Profesor Emeritus. Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach)
E-mail: ewaslawek[at]o2.pl
ORCID: 0000-0002-4566-4789
DOI: 10.31261/FLPI.2023.05.07
„Fabrica Litterarum Polono-Italica” 2023, nr 1

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Abstract

The article formulates a thesis that two eminent Polish writers covering war situations represent two different literary styles (idiostyles): Tochman’s can be subsumed under the term „minimalist-rhetorical", whereas Jagielski’s could be described as „metaphorical". To prove this thesis, the article makes use of linguistic analytical tools to interpret such works as Tochman’s „Like eating stone. Surviving the Past in Bosnia", „The Crowing of Cocks and the Weeping of Dogs" and Jagielski’s „Praying for Rain", „Towers of Stone.

The Battle of Wills in Chechnya". Tochman’s minimalism results from a creative treatment of syntax, the use of most basic syntactic constructions and verbless sentences as well as straight-forward announcement of facts. On the other hand, Jagielski’s effort focuses on semantics, hence the abundance of metaphors, comparisons, and epithets.