Pejzaż (Landscape) by Wisława Szymborska multiple reading

Abstract

The article, starting from the frequent errors of school interpretation that "kill" poetry, presents various ways of encountering the poem Pejzaż (Landscape) by Wisława Szymborska, giving a chance to experience the "event of reading". The text includes reflections on the usefulness of various interpretive strategies. The first approach assumes that the reader finds in the literary work primarily what is familiar and understandable to him/her; the second encourages us to dwell on interpretation difficulties and non- obviousness, i.e. places that lead to co-creation and a personal dialogue with the poem; the third one allows the recipient to focus only on the selected topic or problem that is the most interesting for him/her and included in the poetic text, and develop it by formulating interpretative hypotheses and looking for connections with other texts or formulating questions about the literary work. The last suggested approach encourages to carry on a private conversation with a poem that is far from scientific order, but full of commitment.