Niesamowitość i groza w literaturze polskiej dwudziestolecia międzywojennego (rekonesans badawczy)

Abstract

This article is a preliminary research reconnaissance, concerning the occurrence of the aesthetics of horror and the supernatural in the Polish literature of the period between the two World Wars. It is the first attempt at such a study in the mentioned period, related to the recently more energetic research into Gothic fiction. In the paper, a set of selected works is characterized, which belong both to high and popular literature; these works are categorized according to the thematic classification by R. Cail- lois, with reference being made to the anthropological aspect of this kind of literature and its most typical features. The conclusions from this pilot study are optimistic when concerning further research into the Polish Gothic fiction; it may be presumed that it will be possible to create a detailed description of the Polish supernatural and horror fiction, which would facilitate its evaluation, also in the context of the world literary tradition of the genre.