Rurbanalia. O dwóch typach tekstowych biodróży miejskich

Abstract

Rurbanalia. On two types of textual urban biotravels The purpose of this paper, which offers some academic reflection situated within the realms of urban studies and ecocriticism, is to identify and define a new literary genre – the textual urban biotravel. The author of this paper considers literary representations of the genre to be based on the following texts: Atlas dziur i szczelin (Atlas of Potholes and Cracks) by Michał Książek, Warszawa dzika (Wild Warsaw) by Arkadiusz Szaraniec, Wszystkie okna dla oknówek (Every Window for Martins) by Paweł Pstrokoński, Pozwól rzece płynąć (Let the River Flow) by Michał Cichy, Rzeki, których nie ma (Rivers That Don’t Exist) by Maciej Robert, and, to some extent, Miasto do zjedzenia (Edible City) by Przemysław Owczarek and Dwanaście srok za ogon (The Birds they Sang) by Stanisław Łubieński. Textual urban biodramas, a genre of textual passages connected with maintaining an urban-nature balance rather than modernisation, are an example of rurbanalia – body of literature engaged with the idea of feral cities. In these biotravels, the flâneur is replaced by the biodrifter – a mudwalker and brushcrawler. The author distinguishes two types of textual urban biotravels: the immersive and the hauntological.