The article makes use of Lisbeth Klastrup and Susana Tosca’s notion of transmedial world which has not been introduced to Polish humanities so far. The notion serves here to describe the characteristics of the Witcher universe encompassing books, movies, TV series, video games trilogy, role-playing games and comics. The analysis of the Witcher’s world is also the point of departure for a comparative study between the way the transmedial world is constructed and transmedial story as described in Henry Jenkins’s Convergence Culture. Additionally, it enables the author to comment upon the narrative dynamics of fantasy worldbuilding which differs considerably from traditional mechanisms of representation.

Video games can adjust their messages to the individual player. Based on the ancient ideal of aptum, the authors propose the principle of calibration. This new theoretical concept states that games need to adapt to the individual player in order to be most persuasive. Until Dawn exemplifies this through the element of reoccurring therapy sessions with psychological tests that serve as a hidden calibration mechanic to adjust fear stimuli to the player. The paper pursues an interdisciplinary approach that analyzes not only Until Dawn’s rhetoric, but also its depicted conduct of psychology. Therefore, the authors examine the in-game therapy with two different lenses: the first lens examines Dr. Hill’s methods as a representation of real-life treatment; while the second lens considers how mental illness is portrayed. Combining both perspectives allows to gain a better understanding of how Until Dawn creates powerful statement about psychology and the player’s character.

The article undertakes a polemological reflection which is not limited to historiography and philosophy of history, being an attempt at reaching multidimensional and non-standard vision of war. It may seem that studying a computer simulation of people’s lives during the war conflict is far from what a literary scholar should be doing. Nevertheless, This War of Mine redefines the notion of computer games and of classically defined agon. The interactive production of Warsaw 11 bit studios becomes a pretext for studying the ways in which new media refer to literature. The unique experience of war depicted by This War of Mine draws from literary testimonies but at the same time it captures more than literature could ever do. Is the “word in play” the missing link of Bachtin’s equation?

The article explores the paradox of simultaneous coexistence in two worlds. It raises questions concerning Martin Heidegger’s notion of dwelling understood as constructing, building and managing both virtual and real spaces. The main thesis of the article is that it is impossible to reconcile the world of being with the virtual presence in the world of video games arising from human finitude: being toward death. The article also attempts at answering the question about the manner in which (in the framework of virtual dwelling) the narrative identity is constructed in games and about the role of imagination in media theatrics of game players’ activities. 

The article deals with the stereotypical ways in which game players are represented in various TV series whose characters are constructed on the basis
of well-worn (and not necessarily authentic) patterns. As a result, one-dimensional motifs of games and players lead to unvarying representations which tend to be bipolar. The screenwriters seem to be convinced that the only function of video games is escapism. The TV series characters are, therefore, constructed on the basis of definite patterns limited to specific personality models ranging from the genius to the simpleton with a low IQ. The article exemplifies stereotypes of games and players. It argues that the monochromatic way of presenting the players results – among others – from the fact that producers and screenwriters are willing to favour the expectations of average viewers and attempt to mirror some universally-acknowledged convictions which are not true.

The article presents various movie conventions inspired by MMORPG and made by the players. In order to characterize and describe this kind of fun fiction, the author divided the movies into several general categories due to the functions that, according to their makers, the movies are to fulfil. The criterion of production or technological differences was not, thereby, taken into consideration. Such an approach enables the author to accommodate not only machinima movies but also, to some extent, the MMORPG recordings (such as video tutorials). The article aims at general presentation and description of MMORPG players’ fan movies in order to make it more popular among both the game studies and fun studies scholars.

The article explores Polish names of chosen video games achievements (e.g. Diablo 3 series, Starcraft 2 and Goat Simulator) paying special attention to paraphrases (modified references to other cultural texts). The analysis indicates that intertextual modifications of achievements are most often created by substitution of one word comparing to the prototext. The references are made to Polish and foreign cultures but the most frequent references are to mass/ popular culture. Humorous and surprising paraphrases in names strengthen the emersive character of achievement systems.

On the one hand, the article plays with ageless motifs, and on the other hand, it attempts to present an introduction to studying images in contemporary computer games. Video games, which are products of contemporary culture, often seek new notions and categories that would capture their characteristic features, whereas the philosophy of images provides definitions for the images created by contemporary culture. Bloch’s talent for creating intersensual, intertextual and – to some extent – performative, viewer-oriented images may animate also contemporary culture. Some past motifs recur in new media without losing their merits. In the framework of playing with those motifs, the article attempts at linking the philosophy of images represented by Ernst Bloch with computer games – one of the latest media which convey the images. 

Visions created by enthusiasts and critics of transhumanism represent both utopian possibilities and dystopian consequences entailed by creation of new humans. Narratives representing various ways of human evolution appear in many kinds of media, the text, however, concentrates on computer games whose form is eminently interesting in this respect. In computer games, the player becomes a cyborg, to some extent, as he/ she controls activities of the virtual avatar being aware, at the same time, of his/ her own corporeality.
The aim of the article is to trace two main ways in which the effects of the transhuman evolution into the post-human are represented in chosen games. On the one hand, the ultimate post-human becomes a biological entity degenerated into a condition which is worse than contemporary homo sapiens, and on the other hand, it becomes a technological entity turned into a being of superhuman abilities. The article explores their role and their form in both the structure of the game and the virtual world itself. The material of this study comes from games in which the player controls a single avatar: Bioshock series, Deus Ex series, System Shock 2 and Prototype.

Conversation with a Polish prose writer Donat Kirsch.

Texts of Polish prose writer Donat Kirsch.

Texts of Polish prose writer Donat Kirsch.

This research paper encompasses a commentary and a transcript of Stefan Szlachtycz interview with Teodor Parnicki (1908–1988) – an outstanding historical novel writer. During this 20-minute-long conversation Stefan Szlachtycz – a director of a movie based on Parnicki’s novel Tylko Beatrycze (1975) – asks the writer about narrative complexities and historical references. Parnicki’s answers are of a great value for literary studies as he presents his train of thought and intellectual horizons; he also unveils some aspects of his literary practices. This interview indicates the reasons why Parnicki’s novels are so complicated, multithreaded and improbable from the historical point of view.

The review sums up Piotr Seweryn Rosół’s book devoted to the relation between Witold Gombrowicz and Jean Genet. Despite his critical overtone, the author does not explicitly assess Rosół’s book. He argues with the general idea but notices ambitious intentions and interesting interpretations, which prevents him from rejecting the book as such. On the one hand, Rosół’s work bears the hallmarks of Gombrowicz studies truisms, and on the other hand, it renews some interpretations as it suggests that Gombrowicz uses Genet to “outline” the shape of generally avoided issue of homosexuality. Rosół’s book proves that certain way of critical reading of Gombrowicz is no longer valuable and although he attempts to transgress the traditional critical approach, he does it inconsistently.

The author reviews Piotr Bogalecki’s book which attempts to reinterpret Polish poetry after 1968 in the light of the postsecular turn. He discusses Bogalecki’s work within the broad philosophical context in order to place Bogalecki’s ideas among other quasi-religious and crypto-theological projects – especially those of Agata Bielik-Robson. The author underlines novelty of Bogalecki’s interpretations, his erudition and fundamental faithfulness toward literature and poetry which leads to depoliticization of postsecular thought making it innocuous mean of intervention.

In the review I discuss Paweł Mackiewicz’s book paying special attention to his methodological choices and their consequences. I argue that traditional philological methods are insufficient to present the innovative and experimental character of Sendecki’s poetry. Mackiewicz is rightly sceptical toward deconstructive interpretations but he does not transform ideas proposed by “deconstructive reviewers” and returns to interpretation rooted in representationalism. I argue that it is necessary to elaborate on such an interpretative method that would not petrify the poem and – at the same time – would capture something beside conclusions concerning the crisis of representation. I underline the value of relational reading where the level of representation equals the level of material dimension of the poem, thus subordinating interpretation to the regime of immanence. In this case, the “meaning” of a poem ceases to be more important than its “existence”, and both modes become dynamic as they reveal inevitable involvement of literature in social relations.

The Men with the Pink Triangle shows that sexuality is an indispensable ingredient of power. Heinz Heger’s narrative gives an opportunity to depict the relation between masters and subordinates which still contributes to social identities formation. Moreover, Heger’s memories above all else enable us to recognize still valid, and getting stronger, homophobic strategies stemming not only from actions but also from language known as hate speech. Additionally, Heinz Heger’s book confirms the necessity of rereading holocaust literature within new interpretative paradigm.

The biography became a controversial book before it even began to appear in bookshops. The review, thus, discusses not only its content, composition and inconsistencies but also potential reasons for the negative response of the protagonist and some of his family. As it turns out, Katarzyna Kubisiowska’s book arouses controversies for several reasons: firstly, it seems to be written mainly to meet the market needs, and secondly, it concerns a person who is close to the author. Above all, however, the book shows the protagonist in a bed light without giving him an opportunity to speak for himself, which is even more poignant in the case of a writer who hides behind the masks of literature.

The article presents a constellation of poets who in the 1950s and 1960s of the 20th c. expressed their protest by means of extreme personalization of their poetic voice: an exposure of their – primarily corporeal – intimacy. Their poetry is compared with the theory of Julia Kristeva whose concept of “revolution in poetic language” appeared at the similar time and – similarly – was intended for support of the potentially subversive work of language. As it turns out, strategies for negation encompassed in the poetry of S. Grochowiak, R. Wojaczek, A. Bursa or S. Czycz solidify death drive and trauma and, as a result, negation is not transformed. Such transformation, however, does happen in the poetry of Halina Poświatowska whose creative subjectivity is open to various affects and sensual experiences, which shows itself in her poetic language: metaphorical and vivid. It is such a poetic language, which expresses its aesthetic autonomy in a positive way, that finally opens up the aesthetic emancipatory potential.

The author refers to Memory Studies and analyzes the way in which Dorota Masłowska depicts Polish society that took part in the democratic transition 1989–1990. Masłowska puts emphasis on the mechanisms of late capitalism that shape both imaginary ideas and real social structures. The literary representation of the nation points to a community constructed not upon the tradition and history but on the simulacra produced by politically inclined discourse of media, pop culture and consumerism. This outlook offers an interesting point of departure for analyses of social and political changes (especially those following the transition in 1989 and the symbolic politics adopted in that time) mediated by literature. Levels and contexts depicted in the article represent a range of influences, relations, borrowings, persuasion and narratives that accompanied by memory work shape social and individual identities of contemporary
Poles.

Reminiscence of professor Marek Piechota about Donat Kirsch.

The article depicts biography and works of the forgotten writer Donat Kirsch. It puts emphasis on his debut novel Liście croatoan. The critical part of this article is preceded by brief discussion on chosen aspects of Polish literary life in the 70s and 80s of the 20th century. The author presents a critical thought of that time underlying the work of Henryk Bereza. Presentation of Donat Kirsch inspires the author to ask why the, so called, “young prose” (Kirsch’s works are classified in) is almost unknown to both readers and literary scholars.

The article discusses circumstances surrounding Donat Kirsch’s debut (Liście croatoan, 1977) and presents various critical responses to the novel. A special attention is given to Jerzy Sosnowski who “demonized” Liście croatoan when in his journalistic writings and his novel (Sen sów, 2016) he underlined that the novel
supposedly resists being read. The article attempts to reconstruct the inclinations of Kirsch’s book interpreters. It also raises the issue of literary skills that brought about this debut.