Scholarly Article
The Affective Nature of Realism - on Non-Human Subjects in Wilhelm Mach's Prose
Kovacheva, Adriana
2021-11-27 · Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne · Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan
Abstract
The article examines the problem of the special place occupied by the prose writer Wilhelm Mach in the Polish literary field in the 1960s, when it was suggested that the novel had mainly cognitive functions. Mach does not openly oppose this tendency, but his work is concerned with the question what makes literature an experience. The article traces the development of this problem in Mach's work, focusing on novel scenes and episodes of killing or torturing domestic animals in which the writer's mechanism for depicting affects plays a key role. Their analysis shows that, according to Mach, a literary work works when it transmits affects and demonstrates the ultimate possibilities for their expression. The article tests the hypothesis that Wilhelm Mach's search for affective realism can be seen as a counterpoint and context to Blaga Dimitrova's fiction.
Keywords
реализъм, афект, Блага Димитрова, Вилхелм Мах, realism, affect, ecocriticism, Blaga Dimitrova, Wilhelm Mach
Citation Details
Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne, pp. 127-139