Eternal Moment: The Poetry of Czeslaw Milosz FROM THE PUBLISHER
Aleksander Fiut's study of the poetry of Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz is the first comprehensive examination of the artistic and philosophical dimensions of this remarkable oeuvre. The author refutes such easy categorizations of Milosz as "the poet of Poland," "the poet of history," "the poet of the Holocaust." He examines instead such crucial problems as Milosz's search for the essence of human nature, irreducible to historical, social, and biological categories; Milosz's reflection on the erosion of the Christian imagination, which has resulted in a fundamental gap between the individual's inner life and the image of humanity formed by scientific theories; his efforts to rebuild the anthropocentric vision of the world, while acknowledging the elements that have undermined it; and finally, his attempt to recreate in his poetry a language that is both poetic and philosophical. The Eternal Moment originally appeared in Polish in 1987. This version, which quotes extensively from Milosz's Collected Poems, is the first thorough introduction for English-speaking readers to this major poet.
Author Biography: Aleksander Fiut is Associate Professor of Polish at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. His Conversations with Czeslaw Milosz, co-edited with Ewa Czarnecka and widely translated, appeared in English in 1987. Theodosia S. Robertson is Adjunct Professor in History at the University of Michigan, Flint. She has translated widely in the area of Polish literature, most recently the Polish entries in the Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literatures.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
A Nobel Laureate, Polish poet Milosz is internationally hailed as a major poetic voice of the last half-century. His Collected Poems ( LJ 4/15/88), which confirmed his reputation, must be at hand when reading Fiut's scholarly, in-depth examination of Milosz's career. Fiut (Jagiellonian Univ., Cracow, Poland) focuses on the poet's aesthetic and philosophic visions of history and human nature. At times his prose breaks under the weight of critical jargon--Robertson's translation cannot be faulted--but his command of his subject and of Poland's rich literary tradition more than compensate for stylistic lapses. His comments lay a solid foundation for future studies. Important for serious collections.-- Vincent D. Balitas, Allentown Coll., Center Valley, Pa.
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