Literature does not create a screen barrier…

Abstract

In the 21st century, the creators of global, multimedia social platforms aspire to convince their existing and potential audiences at all costs that on-screen “cognition”, or in practical terms, viewing the world, is the most attractive, and that it is above all other forms of mediated experience. These technical conveniences, however, are focused on reporting on the “here” and “now”. They very rarely show past events that are important from a beyond-individual and socio-cultural perspective. This is their disadvantage. They have other ones as well. This type of media separates us from the world with a screen barrier. They do not stimulate and develop imagination either, as they are passive, while literature is active. These differences are increasingly difficult to discern today. However, it fortunately becomes possible, when such a publication as Rododendron na Alaska. Twórczość literacka 1941–1944, translated by Grzegorz Ojcewicz, with an introduction by Jolanta Brzykcy, comes into our hands. This publication takes us on a journey to times gone by. The book allows us to see and hear places with their smells and sounds. This edition lets us meet real people like Gieorgij Efron, and at least, for a brief moment, lets us feel the emotions he experienced and which resonated in him.