Podróż ludzi księgi Olgi Tokarczuk jako artystyczne motto debiutantki

Abstract

The subject of the article is the first novel by Olga Tokarczuk, published in 1993, a description of the author’s creative method, her style and language, and her reflection on the notion of logos as the way to gain knowledge of life and another man. Thus, the main theses of the article concentrate on the analyses oscillating around epistemological and ontological problems. The material of analysis of these phenomena is the secret expedition – described by the author of Journey of the People of the Book – of the three characters of the novel for the purpose of finding the Holy Book, containing the Absolute Truths and the principles organizing the world. The history of this quest, presented in a fantastic, fairytale way, becomes the basis of asking the question, whether any account of a journey is possible, or whether all description, all narration – regardless of whether it relates to real events, or as in this case, invented ones – contains fiction in it, so it is always an artificial construct. Tokarczuk seems to say – though, she does not verbalize it in simple words, rather hiding it under a coat of metaphor – that it seems to be the adult make believe games, the writer’s inter-textual or para-textual journey through words, and not the account of dry facts, that may turn out – both for the author and for every reader co-creating meanings – the real challenge, and finally “tell us something about ourselves”. Communication, both interpersonal and intermediary, is what fascinates the writer, and what is really hidden under the notion of the “journey of words”.