Sygnatury ukryte: Rudnicki, Stryjkowski, Brandys

Abstract

The paper discusses nominal signatures – the most pronounced type of literary means relating text to its author. The personal name as a basic and universally understandable token of identity, a linguistic equivalent of human face, has a capacity of instantaneous, almost direct recalling of the person. Inclusion of the name and/or surname of the author, his/her initials, well known pseudonym, or even transformations of these elements into the text of a literary work, always provokes the reader to reflect on a connection between the text and its author. Often it instigates a more general reflection on the interrelations between the piece of art and the artist, and sometimes it induces the reader to redefine the picture of these relations which have been preserved by tradition. In the discussed prose by the three Polish-Jewish writers, signatures are present in a modified form: there is no explicit invoking of one’s own name, but merely camouflaged allusions to it. Moreover, Rudnicki and Stryjkowski allude to their original names, different from the assumed names known to the readers. However, even so covert signatures, if only noticed by the reader, significantly modify interpretation of the literary work and influence reception of the writer’s artistic legacy.