Bruno Schulz’s Phenomenological Hermeneutics

Abstract

The fundamental premise of Bruno Schulz’s theory of interpretation is an assumption that reality has some meaning. This meaning is an intentional object which must be discovered in a process of creative interpretation. In Schulz’s fiction, Józef fails to become a true artist because he cannot be or does not dare to be a successful interpreter of the reality of Drogobych. The central text of Schulz’s phenomenological hermeneutics, approached by Meniok in the context of the Husserlian and Ingardenian tradition, is his programmatic essay Mythicization of Reality [Mityzacja rzeczywistości], where he stressed the potential of literature to activate myth as a component of reality. Thus, the writer’s task is both to endow reality with myth and to interpret myth – and consequently reality – in a creative manner.