Wizja ponadlokalna... O Praktykach czytania Grażyny B. Tomaszewskiej

Abstract

The following article is a review of Grażyna Tomaszewska’s book entitled Praktyki czytania. Ponowoczesna interpretacja a szkoła (Gdańsk 2019). One of the major advantages of this publication is a contextual teaching strategy. Not only does it help to define the subject area of the text but also enables the reader to go beyond the presence and relate to the tradition, which tends to be a tough task in school reality. Thanks to an interesting mixture of the cultural texts, the localness (in the form of separateness and distinction) can mirror itself in a wider historical perspective. As a result, both the old and the contemporary show the quality of universality. In order to broaden the contexts, Tomaszewska also uses (post) modern interpretation theories (feminism, postcolonialism), which give the texts a fresh look and revise previous interpretations.
 Being impressive theoretically-wise as it is (literary theory, literary science, didactics), Tomaszewska’s book still seems to have more powerful impact in practical aspects. Here, we can witness how interpretations of cultural texts are created, how they surprise and provoke. The author picks contemporary poems of Szymborska, Hartwig, Miłosz and Herbert along with Wiesław Myśliwski’s prose (Kamień na kamieniu) and Jacek Dehnel’s novel Matka Makryna. Recapturing of the tradition is presented through the books and heroes of Romanticism (including the mother Makryna), which, once again, proved to be a sense-making and life- giving movement that raises questions and brings meanings.