Flavors of authenticity. Autobiographical aspects in Michał Choromański’s novels

Abstract

Michał Choromański was from the generation of Witold Gombrowicz, Bruno Schulz and Czesław Miłosz. His novel Zazdrość i medycyna [Jealousy and Medicine] brought him great popularity in the 1930s. However, this pre-war popularity was not consolidated by numerous works published in the post-war period. It was only in the 1970s that his work began to be appreciated. His work was largely permeated with autobiographical elements. Choromański himself, however, claimed, somewhat perversely, that he absolutely hates autobiography. In my article, I try to argue a bit with the abovementioned writer’s confession, basing on the cited critical studies. Therefore, I attempt to capture as many threads and motives related to Choromański’s biography as possible, distinguishing several thematic circles emerging in selected pieces of his prose. These are: the narrator who is the author’s porte parole, fictionalized events from his life and places related to his biography.