The Wonder of Inspiration: Musical Universalizations of Rabindranath Tagore's Poems in Polish Culture

Abstract

The paper presents select distinctive results of Polish fascination with the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore, placing this phenomenon in the sphere of universalization within the syntagma of Polish national culture. The translations of Tagore’s poetry are presented as the first stage of the process of intercultural communication, based on the understanding of these literary works in the allegorical and symbolic styles of reception. Subsequently, the literary translations are perceived in the style of aesthetization. This style of reception of a work of art induces the occurrence of transcriptions of literary works – from the sign system of language into the sign system of music. Musical compositions found in contemporary Polish music are examples of concretizations of literary works.

Keywords

• intercultural communication
• intrinsic values
• concretization of a literary work
• reception of Tagore in Poland