Wszystko jest recepcją. Pejzaże fenograficzne

Abstrakt

These introductory remarks are aimed at inviting reflection on the place of reception studies in literary research and the humanities at large. It seems that, at least in Poland, research on the reception of literary texts relatively seldom becomes the main focus of scholarly attention, mostly serving an auxiliary function in literary history and criticism, translation studies, comparative and world literature, and other research areas enjoying more prestige than reception studies per se even though reception constitutes a rich and vast territory that can be explored from various angles (e.g., diachronic versus synchronic reception; domestic versus foreign reception; institutional/professional versus non-professional/‘lay’ reception). This may have to do, among other things, with the researchers’ personal dis- positions: rather than showcasing their own interpretations, purporting to say something interesting about a given text, reception scholars content themselves with devoting their time and effort to reconstructing other readers’ interpretations. As the international re- ception of Schulz’s writing shows, discussed in several contributions addressing different language and culture areas (from 1960s Italy to contemporary China and Vietnam), it is worth delving into this vast reception archive to see Schulz from radically different points of view and thus, for a moment, leave the comfort zone of well-grounded Polish academic Schulzology and its silent assumption of ‘ownership’ of this author. Even as geographically and/or culturally distant reception, mediated through translation, may seem kewed, ill-in-formed, naïve, etc., its undeniable value lies in its spontaneity and honesty.