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FromnationtoFascination:apersonalstory
studiesaslongastheygiveupallrealisticprejudicesonwhich
theyhavebeenbuilt:thenationalistictendencytocloseupthe
feldofresearch;theobjectivetendencytoexcludepersonality
fromwritingandtoreduceittoamererecordingofwhathas
happened,and,fnally,thebeliefthatthejustifcationofwhatwe
doliessomewhereoutsideoureforttoredefneourownposition.
PersonalMission
Iwillendwithonemore,shortbiographicalline.When,apart
frominterpretingPolishwritersanddealingwithPolish
modernism,IwaswritingonDerrida,Nietzsche,Barthes,Pessoa,
Proust,Perec,Lichtenberg,Walser,Mandelstam,Cioran,andso
manyothers,Iwasalwayscertainthatbyinscribingtheminto
Polishlanguage,bytranslatingthemandrewritingthemin
adiferentlanguage,IwasdoingPolishstudies,becausePolish
studiesdidnothave(anddonothave,tomymind)aprecise
circumscriptionasafeld,buthavealwaysbeencarryingahappy
promiseforme:apromisetopursuemyownfascinationsand
obsessions,whoseobjectswereunstableandhardlysubsumed
underaclearlydelineatedcategoryexceptone.Thoseobjects–
allinall–refusedhastygeneralizationsandwereuniquein
theirperformance.Andalldemandedtheirexistenceinanother
language.AndasthePolishlanguagewasandstillismyhome
withwhichIincessantlytraveltoforeignplaces,Ineverthought
aboutswitchingtoanotherfeld.Iunderstoodthatmypersonal
missionwastoenlargethefeldofPolishstudiesasmuchas
possible,byincludingintoitwhathasnotbeenthoughtofastheir
propersubject.Iunderstoodthatmytaskwastodisobjectifyand
disappropriatePolishstudies,becausetheywerestuckbelieving
intheirobjectivistandrealiststatus.Nothingcouldhelpthistask
morethananicekickofnominalism.
