The Balkans and the Polish cause. Radosław Kobierski’s “Mitrovica”

Abstract

The aim of the interpretation of the poem Mitrovica written by Radosław Kobierski is a quest for the ”peculiarity” and “singularity” of the literature” as it is viewed by Derek Attridge. The way the eponymous word sounds leads to a formulation of the question on what “semantic relations” are established between the title word and the remaining text. The journalistic character of the poem relates to the geography of the Balkan War of the 1990s. But the singularity and uniqueness of the poem Mitrovica stems rather from the tension that arises from its journalistic-style narration, reporting citation and a specific place name and what is metaphorical and symbolic. The Kobierski’s poem, creating its own, unique “singularity” comes also to grips with the media discourse related to the post-Yugoslav crisis. The interpretation shows how important is the application of the rule of myth-making poetical reversal in stripping the poetical discourse of stereotypes and cliches, but not of the relevance to reality.

Keywords

• poetry of Radosław Kobierski
• “singularity of poetical work” according to Derek Attridge
• literature and the Balkan conflict in literature
• poetry and journalism