Rozumienie paradoksu wśród uczniów szkoły ponadgimnazjalnej

Abstract

The authors discuss defining and conditions of observing a paradox, the level of comprehension of structures based on a paradox among students, as well as what functions a speech based on contradictions may have. A paradox in the contemporary lyric poetry is a highly expansive device; its pervasive popularity has a reflection in works of the most significant poets, such as: Czesław Miłosz, Zbigniew Herbert, Wisława Szymborska, Jan Twardowski, Tadeusz Różewicz etc. This fact emphasizes the importance of the category and the need to observe how it functions. As yet, research on comprehension of a paradox among students has not been conducted, and the issue of a paradox itself has not been given a proper space in Polish literary studies. A paradox is one of the concepts which can prove to be problematic in reception of a written text. Despite being frequently used – or overused – in colloquial language, the notion seems to be elusive. The article accentuates the presence of the notion of a paradox in education, and presents a research experiment showing the way high secondary school students perceive it. Bożena Chrząstkowska’s and Zenon Uryga’s findings constitute a point of reference; Chrząstkowska showed comprehension of theoretical literary notions among students, whereas Uryga dealt with the reception of lyric poetry students among third year students. The understanding of a paradox has a tremendous significance in literary, linguistic and cultural education, since nothing is a paradox per se but emerges as one in a particular context.