Znikomek among other-beings. Analysis of the anatomy of Leśmian’s imagination

Abstract

The article is an attempt to situate the world of peculiar creatures created in the ballads of Bolesław Leśmian with other bestiaries drawn from mythology and literary creations in the field of science fiction, fairy tales and grotesque, creativity for children and popular culture, by, for instance, Jorge Luis Borges, Stanisław Lem, Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński, Maciej Wojtyszko. Against this background, the distinctiveness of Leśmian’s imagination makes us call it a fantastic ontology and references to the category of “other-beings”. Leśmian creates his characters in an anti-anthropocentric perspective as an alternative existence. Their appearance remains undetermined as the residual characteristics dispersed in the narrative focus primarily on their existence marginalized with regard to the real world. An overviewof the most important Leśmian creatures closes with a detailed interpretation of the ballad Znikomek from the collection Napój cienisty (Shadowy Drink).