Encounter with(in) Other Times. On Two Novels by Olga Tokarczuk - Acta Universitatis Sapientiae

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica, 16, 1 (2024) 1–16

DOI: 10.47745/ausp-2024-0001

Abstract. Olga Tokarczuk’s novels take place in the mazes of time. This paper explores what disjunctions and connections her novels such as Primeval and Other Times (2010 [1996]) or House of Day, House of Night (2003 [1998]) reveal and how we can navigate between the events of a time, the resonances between times, and the attempts to encounter different times. To what extent do the practices of reading and writing the Tokarczuk novels correspond to art theoretical thinking based on the historical regimes of aesthetics and the notion of historicity, and where do they raise questions that prompt a rethinking of these paradigms? The practice-oriented physics and eco-rhythmology proposed by me should also be put to a similar test in order to see what support they provide for research into the practical orientation of Tokarczuk’s novels in times and where the art of writing under examination prompts new/further hypotheses.

Keywords: multiple temporalities, unreflective learning, rhythm, sympathy, Tokarczuk.