„Tongue’s a Bell Rope to Ring”. Critical Literary Attempt to (Re)construct a Generational Identity in the Polish Contemporary Poetry

Abstract

The article presents a selected formative projects of polish poetry after 1989—especially contemporary engaged poetry—that have been frequently discussed so far. The author connects the term ‘generation’ with identity issues, however—contrary to Kazimierz Wyka—he does not understand it as an effect of generational experience, but rather as a part of an identity project. The author claims that the contemporary poets’ generations should be considered in the terms of conventionality, therefore the aim is to link an individual biography up to a broader context of a community’s biography. Moreover it stems from an idea of collective socio-political engagement. The ‘generation’ understood this way is no longer just a term of literary history, but on the contrary—a relevant interpretative tool.