Studia Filologiczne UJK

Summary

In the Gorzko, gorzko novel, the house of the protagonists plays an important role – a place that is both pleasant and dreadful. The concepts of loci amoeni and loci horridi coexist here, somewhat contaminated, but revealing the long-standing rules for organisation of description (Gally): balancing between the sensual and the intellectual, presenting the numerous before the singular, utilising the juxtaposition of pleasure/displeasure. The depiction of the house corresponds with the psychological structure of the protagonists, it indicates their internal transformations and personality redefinitions, while the rotting tenement acts as a metaphor for the world. The locus amoenus and locus horridus, as the areas of shaping „the pleasure of the text” (Barthes) and of the dialogue with the reader, evoke a feeling of dissonance and balancing between harmony and chaos.