Katarzyna Bazarnik

(& Zenon Fajfer)

LIBERATURE
Literature in The Form of The Book
This is an edited version of the talk given at the conference Traditional and emerging formats of artists
books: Where do we go from here?, at the School of Creative Arts, Universit of the West of !ngland,
"ristol, U#, on $%th &'l (%%)* The talk traces the develo+ment of liberature ,-olish liberatura, from
.atin liber, i*e* /book/0, a literar genre that integrates te1t and its material fo'ndation into a meaningf'l
whole* "'t it is the writer who intentionall sha+es the form of the book to s'it the te1t* The s+'r to
+ro+ose liberat're as a genre different from artists/ books and concrete +oetr came from a self2reflection
on form, s+ace, as well as the book and te1t as literar media, when we were working on o'r tri+le2
vol'me book Oka-leczenie* Creative work and scholarl research was followed b +ractical activities: we
fo'nded the .iberat're 3eading 3oom in #rak4w and la'nched a +'blishing line in collaboration with a
+'blishing ho'se 5a6art* The talk was accom+anied b a +resentation of 7a8fer/s kinetic ,electronic0 +oem
-rim'm 9obile, the closing section of his new vol'me of +oetr dwadziecia jeden liter/ten letters that
+roblematises, inter alia, the relation between +rinted and virt'al te1ts*
Introdution! "hy #i$erature and not the arti%t&% $ook
We m'st admit that the term artists/ books makes 's rather 'neas since most of the
books we +resent here, and most of the books in o'r still h'mble b't slowl growing
collection of .iberat're 3eading 3oom in #rak4w can be hardl called artists/ books*
&oce/s Finnegans Wake, "*S* &ohnson/s House Mother Normal, 9allarm:/s Un cou de
des and ;eorges -erec/s !i"e the #nstruction Manual are normal, traditional codices,
with te1t bo'nd between ordinaril2looking covers* The two books we have written
together are onl slightl e1traordinar: $O%atrzenie has b't a torn2off corner of the
cover, which a lot of readers and librarians take as an accidental damage and
metic'lo'sl re+air it< and nothing betras at fist glance that Oka-leczenie consists of
three codices attached to one another in s'ch a wa that the form a kind of concertina*
#* "a=arnik > ?* 7a8fer $O%atrzenie, (%%@ ?* 7a8fer > #* "a=arnik Oka-leczenie, ,+rotot+e0 (%%%
www*o't'be*comAwatch?vB2?C!t'vCclD>feat'reBrelated www*o't'be*comAwatch?vBgsEd8Do7"7c
"'t des+ite their 'nconventional a++earance, in fact, we have never tho'ght
abo't o'r books as artist/s books, as their origins were literar* The grew o't of te1ts
,o't of telling stories and e1+ressing emotions0 F o't of te1ts that were seeking s+ace to
accommodate themselves in it* Gn the beginning was the word* Gn the beginning was
writing, which for 's, 'nlike for Eerrida, did not signif absence b't +resence: of
visible, +erce+tible words im+rinted on some material, +al+able matter that co'ld be
formed into a meaningf'l sha+e* Gn other words, we were writing books rather than
te&ts, as we consider the book in its material form to be an organic element of o'r work,
and not a trans+arent container whose sha+e sho'ld not interfere with words
trans+orting the reader to s+here of disembodied meaning* As ?enon 7a8fer +'t it in one
of his articles: Hin liberat're theI +hsical ob8ect ceases to be a mere medi'm for the
te1t F the book does not contain a literar work, it is the literar' work itsel" ,transl*
#"0
$
* And G s+ecified elsewhere that the sha+e and str'ct're of the book, its format and
si=e, lao't and kind of t+eface, kind and colo'r of +a+er, ill'strations, drawings and
other gra+hic elements can be valid means of artistic e1+ression
(
*
$ ?enon 7a8fer, lirka, e+ika, dramat, liberat'ra, Od (o'ce)a do liberatur', ed* #atar=na "a=arnik
,#rak4w: Universitas, (%%(0 (@@2(@)* 3ead the !nglish te1t at: www*liberat'ra*+lAtekst2doste+ne2na2
stronie*html
( #atar=na "a=arnik, ?amiast wstJ+', ibid* v*
Oka-leczenie ' the fir%t #i$erati $ook
(
So the conce+t of liberat're grew o't of Oka-leczenie, the book we labelled as
s'ch, +artl in order to avoid the term the artists/ book* We had to come '+ with an
a++ro+riate term to describe it, or to give critics an a++ro+riate tool to handle it if we
wanted them to take it serio'sl* Ktherwise, it wo'ld have been labelled the artists/
book or a t+ogra+hic ha++ening, as someone called it, and relegated to the margins of
literat're* Gnstead of getting to libraries and booksho+s, it wo'ld have ended '+ in
galleries and e1hibitions* "'t we wanted it to be read* K'r +riorit in writing and
designing it was not to make it vis'all a++ealing, b't to find an a++ro+riate form that
wo'ld s'it its s'b8ect: ding, gestation and birth, and the 8o'rne of conscio'sness
thro'gh an intermediate region between death and another incarnation or nirvanic
liberation*
Admittedl, Oka-leczenie has a vis'all attractive sha+e: it consists of three
codices 8oined b the covers in s'ch a wa that the covers form a three2+art concertina
,see the +ict're above0* The +eri+heral codices are set in hos+itals: one in -oland at a
man/s deathbed where his large famil have gathered< the other in an !nglish maternit
ward where a -olish woman is in labo'r, accom+anied b her h'sband and two
midwives* The middle +art contains two kinds of handwritten te1ts forming LD
he1astiches* Kne t+e of handwriting consists of one words written contin'all so that it
resembles an electrocardiogram, the other has readable words that t'rn o't to form a
short +oem revealed in f'll onl on the last +age of this +art ,see the +hoto below0*
@ The section on Oka-leczenie is a slightl modified version of section @ of m article .iberat're: a
Mew .iterar ;enre?, in: #nsistent #mages, ed* !* Tabakowska, C* .8'ngberg > K* 7ischer* Gconicit
in .ang'age and .iterat're, vol* N* ,AmsterdamA-hiladel+hia: &ohn "en8amins, (%%O0, $)D2P*
Oka-leczenie makes 'se of other vis'al devices, too* 7or e1am+le, it feat'res several
different t+efaces to differentiate among vario's voices ,the o'ter +arts contain onl
dialogic +arts0< a series of anagrammatic sign2+oems that show a transformation of
E!MAT ,-ol* a dead bod0 into EAMT! ,the name of a child to be born0 ,see the
+hoto below0, and a fig'ral -olish2!nglish +alindrome*
Qis'al2te1t'al devices in Oka-leczenie: E!MAT2EAMT! anagram and the te1t in the rift
"'t all s'ch devices have been 'sed before* The tr'e innovation of this book is
connected with a s+ecial techniR'e of writing 'sed in the two +eri+heral codices* 7a8fer
calls it emanational, beca'se the te1t is derived from one core word in s'ch a wa
that each of its letters iss'es or emanates a new word beginning with this letter* The
res'ltant te1t emanates another te1t and the +roced're is re+eated several times* Gn
reading this +roced're is reversed and the reader sho'ld read the initials of each s'rface
word to recover the first laer and then re+eat it 'ntil she gets to the core word* This
techniR'e resembles #abbalistic notaricon, b't the emanational te1t is like a m'lti2
laered notaricon or a kind of Chinese2bo1 acrostic* This form was invented to order to
conve how the old self ,of the ding man0 is shrinking into a single2word core from
which a new self ,of the bab0 is develo+ing, or how the +osth'mo's conscio'sness
8o'rnes thro'gh an intermediate s+here between death and another incarnation* 7inall,
the te1t boils down to a single word that f'nctions as the karmic element*
The o'ter codices are interlaid with the middle code1, reverse in relation to
them, whose black +ages are filled in white handwriting* Gt co'ld be seen as an analogon
of nirvana: to* o kt+r'm brak ju, s-+w ,that of which one is lost for words0* The
reader can break free from the samsaric ccle of the two o'ter +arts and reach the
central te1t if she discovers a te1t'al thread left in one of the o'ter codices, hidden in
the te1t +rinted in the vis'al fiss're ,see the +hoto above0* Gn fact, this fiss're remains in
an iconic bond with the title of the book, and the method of reading it* Gt +oints o't to
the cleft that c'ts the e+onmo's okaleczenie ,-ol* maiming, inflicting a wo'nd0 into
its reverse oka leczenie ,-ol* healing of the ee0* The black +age is ri++ed thro'gh to
reveal a te1t hidden beneath it, 8'st as the title word is s+lit in order to reveal a +hrase
with the o++osite meaning* Similarl, the reader is invited to c't off the initials of the
s'rface te1ts in order to notice the invisible te1ts encoded in them* Kr, to remain within
the "'ddhist framework, the reader needs to tear thro'gh the veils of ma'a in order to
realise an ill'sor nat're of s'rface realit* Th's, the above mentioned image, the
str'ct're of the book and the method of reading it are iconic enactments of how
"'ddhist conceive of the world* ,"'t it m'st be stressed that this is not the canonical
reading< other ingenio's inter+retations have also been offered*0
Oka-leczenie was made in nine +rotot+e co+ies ,'sing +rint2on2demand service
and hand2bo'nd b a +rofessional bookbinder0 that are to serve as a model for a
+ros+ective +'blisher
D
* 5owever, it has become known to the +'blic thro'gh several
reviews +'blished in literar maga=ines as well as thro'gh o'r +resentations in the
3eading 3oom and elsewhere* Admittedl, some readers have been mislead b what
the +erceive as vis'al e1travagance and are tem+ted to +erceive it as an artist/s book*
"'t its 'nconventional sha+e is inherentl connected with the stor delivered thro'gh
the te1t and +artl thro'gh non2verbal images* Altho'gh ver vis'al, the work hides its
greatest secret and its essential meaning in invisible, m'ltilaered str'ct'res and cannot
be adeR'atel analsed if it were merel taken as an artist/s book, or as a +'rel literar
+henomenon* This is beca'se for 's the book is not, as 9ilton called it, a trans+arent
violl, or, as Gngarden insisted, a negligible material fo'ndation, b't an integral +art of
the literar work, a visible and +al+able te1t occ'+ing a certain +hsicall delimited
s+ace* 5ence, in #i$erature), the name we 'se to refer to similar works, s'bstit'tes the
.atin litera, i*e* the letter, with liber, the book* To +'t it briefl, liberat're is literat're in
the form of the book*
D "'t onl when we +ers'aded 5a6art to la'nch .iberat'ra series, has it become +ossible to +lan its
mass edition*
Li$erature! "riter%& freedom to e*+#ore the $ody of the $ook
Set, liber also means free, which +oints o't to the a'thor/s freedom to choose
whatever material he or she wants to 'se: be it +a+er, foil, glass, metal or stone* We
f'll s'bscribe to "*S* &ohnson/s comment on his literar +ractice that whenever he
de+arts from editorial conventions he does so, beca'se the are inadeR'ate for his
+'r+ose* This model liberatic writer e1+lained that for ever device HheI 'sed there is a
literar rationale and a technical 8'stification
N
*
Gf G em+hasise this bodil, material as+ect so m'ch, it is beca'se -olish literar
st'dies seem still dominated b scholars indebted to 3oman Gngarden, a -olish
+hiloso+her who vent'red into literar st'dies to +rod'ce a highl infl'ential theor of
the literar work of art
L
in which he denied its material fo'ndation ,as he called it0
an significance* Gt was to be +assed over and not interfere with reading* This t+e of
thinking reaches back as far as -lato, who saw writing as an inferior shadow of s+eech,
an a'1iliar tool to remind one of or evoke the s+oken form ass'med b ideas*
That the literar te1t is often treated as an disembodied entit ,or as radicall
'nstable and heavil s'b8ected to historical, economic and technological factors0 is
+roven b some editorial +ractices that, for e1am+le, allow for +rinting "lake/s
ill'minated +oetr as bare te1ts or for -olish editions of .ristram /hand' witho't the
ga+ in +agination between cha+ters TTGGG and TTQ of "ook GQ and witho't the
marble and black +ages ,instead, these editions contain a note sa'ing that s'ch +ages
a++eared in the original0* A similar tradition of te1t'al criticism allowed 5ans Walter
;abler to ignore the bibliogra+hic code of the first edition of Ul'sses, +re+ared 'nder
&oce/s s'+ervision and evidentl engineered b him to incl'de all'sions to +age
n'mbers and the material bod of the book* ;abler/s edition
O
, tho'gh te1t'all +robabl
more correct than all +revio's editions, does not give 8'stice to the book as &oce
wrote it* Since for &oce his works were +olhedronHsI of scri+t're ,as Finnegas
Wake names it on +age $%O, line P0 that he meas'red and designed caref'll, sometimes
integrating even the format and the colo'r of the covers with the te1t* There is no time
N "ran Stanle &ohnson, Aren/t So' 3ather So'ng to "e Writing So'r 9emoirs?, 0ren)t 1ou 2ather
1oung to 3e Writing 1our Memoirs4 $.ondon: 5'tchinson, $)O@0 (%*
L Cf* 3oman Gngarden, 5as literarische 6unstwerk7 8ine Untersuchung aus dem 9renzgebiet der
Ontologie* !ogik und !iteraturwissenscha"t ,5alle: 9a1 Miemeer, $)@$0< .he !iterar' Work o" 0rt,
transl* b ;eorge ;* ;rabowic=* ,!vanston, Gllinois: Morthwestern Universit -ress, $)O@0< .he
Ontolog' o" the Work o" 0rt, transl* b 3amond 9eer with &ohn T* ;oldthwait ,Athens, Khio: Khio
Universit -ress, $)P)0*
O &ames &oce, Ul'sses: 0 ;ritical and /'notic 8dition, ed* 5ans Walter ;abler with Wolfhard Ste++e
and Cla's 9elchior ,Mew Sork, .ondon: ;arland, $)PD, @ vol'mes0 and Ul'sses: .he ;orrected
.e&t, ed* 5ans Walter ;abler ed* 5ans Walter ;abler ,Mew Sork, 3andom 5o'se and Qintage<
.ondon: "odle 5ead< and 5armondsworth: -eng'in: $)PL0*
to develo+ this fascinating s'b8ect here
P
, b't G am mentioning this to +oint o't that there
are and there have been writers who have taken dee+ interest in the material sha+e of
their te1ts*
So we m'st disagree with Clive -hill+ott, who dismissed the term writer/s
book in favo'r of artist/s book* 3es+onding to ob8ections that the term artist/s book
shifts the foc's on the gra+hic and vis'al as+ect of the disc'ssed works he said:
The +hrase Uartists// booksU has been critici=ed eno'gh, b't it is im+ossible to den that among
the +ossible alternatives it has the greatest c'rrenc* Kne ob8ection to this designation has been
that it defines books e1cl'sivel in relation to the +rofession of the vis'al artist* While this ma
anno writers who e1+eriment with the form of he book, alternatives like Uwriters// booksU,?0, or
Um'sicians// booksU can still be swe+t '+ into the all2embracing categor of book art: art
dependent upon the book form* Gn an case, it is clear that vis'al artists have contrib'ted to most
to the revitali=ation of the books as art over the last twent 2five ears, and to the develo+ment of
vis'al and verbi2vis'al lang'ages artic'lated within the book form
)
*,em+hasis mine0*
That is +recisel the bone of contention: we do believe that writers 'sing the
book in its materialit as another medi'm for e1+ression, along with the te1t, sho'ld not
and cannot be and, in fact, in the ma8orit of cases are not, classified as artists involved
in the art of the book or making artists/ books* While we don/t den evident val'e and
R'alit of the artists/ books, we +erceive them rather as a belonging to fine arts,
design and fine +rinting* Kf co'rse, as with all classifications bo'ndaries are not strict
and stable, b't des+ite some overla+, which G am going to disc'ss in a moment,
liberat're a++ears to 's as a literar' rather than artistic +henomenon* .et me onl add
that these gra+hic feat'res and similarities to the artists/ books, or to 'se 5iggins/
term, their intermedialit ,or +olimedialit0 has been res+onsible for earning man of
them the e+ithet of eccentric, odd or transgressive among literar scholars and critics*
Li$erature a% a ontri$ution to #iterary %tudie%
G have mentioned Sterne and &oce to +oint o't to another so'rce of o'r thinking
and theoretical work on liberat're, namel, to m scholarl work on &oce and on the
s+ace of the literar work* 9 academic interest and research foc'sed on writers s'ch as
P 7or more information on the s'b8ect see m article &oce, .iberat're and Writing of the "ook,
H'ermedia (o'ce /tudies, vol* P no (, (%%O, at: htt+:AAh8s*ff*c'ni*c=AarchivesAvPC(AmainAessas*+h+?
essaBba=arnik
) -hill+ot, Clive* ArtistsV "ooklet* 7rom -rinted 9atter $)PLAPO Catalog* -rinted 9atter, Gnc* !ssas*
(N 7eb* (%%N Whtt+:AAwww*+rintedmatter*orgAabo'tAbooklets*cfmX
"* S* &ohnson, the above mentioned "ritish novelist, 8o'rnalist and screenwriter,
St:+hane 9allarm:, .a'rence Sterne, William "lake, 3amond 7ederman
$%
, that is, on
those writers who in 7ederman/s words are solel res+onsible and not the editor,

3amond 7ederman, 5ouble or Nothing, the cover of the first edition ,$)O@0
and a +hotoco+ of the final +age of the book in this edition*
the +rinter, the designer, the +'blisher, ,Y0 nor anone else ,known or 'nknown0 for
ever as+ect of their work* Kf co'rse, we know that this is an ideal rather than act'al
state of affairs, b't what is im+ortant is the fact that a +artic'lar lao't, or the material
sha+e and str'ct're of the book is seen as a +art of the a'thorial intention and is
s'b8ected to the te1t*
Th's, these two +aths: o'r creative work and scholarl research, had led 's to
form'late a +ost'late that s'ch literar works sho'ld be classified as a se+arate and
distinct literar' genre whose generic distinctness wo'ld reside in this organic 'nit of
the te1t and its material form intentionall sha+ed b the a'thor* Gt seems that the
$% 9 doctoral dissertation called Some as+ects of s+atialit of the literar work as e1em+lified b
&ames &oceVs 9iacomo (o'ce, Ul'sses and Finnegans Wake ,with a reference to .* Sterne, S*
9allarm:, "* S* &ohnson and 3* 7ederman0 was defended in 9arch (%%O at the -hilological 7ac'lt
of the &agiellonian Universit, #rak4w, -oland*
relation between the ling'istic and the ,biblio0gra+hic com+onents can be identified as
iconic* That is, the com+osition, arrangement andAor lao't of the ling'istic material and
str'ct're of the book resemble the str'ct're of the +resented world*
As alread mentioned, -olish literar scholars have been slow to recognise the
validit of this +ro+osition* As it t'rned o't, the Anglo2Sa1on classification of genres
seems to be less rigid than the strict and o't2dated continental division into the lric, the
e+ic and the dramatic with their res+ective canonical genres* Anglo2Sa1on theorists
have been more +rone to incor+orate the gra+hic s'rface or the material bod of the
book into their theoretical reflection* -'blications that tackle on this as+ect of the
literar work and see it as valid for literar criticism have been a++earing mostl since
a++ro1imatel $))%, to m knowledge* Kne of the first scholars who have acco'nted for
the materialit of the literar medi'm is Carl E* 9almgren* "'t even he needed to
R'alif this b +ointing o't that e1+erimentation with the +ictorial R'alities of writing
and the book is not a gimmick, is as valid as e1+erimenting with other as+ects of
literar lang'age and constit'tes an attem+t to m'lti+l the t+es of s+ace available
for signification
$$
*

Kther books on the s'b8ect incl'de: 9ichael #a'fman, .e&tual
3odies: Modernism* <ostmodernism and <rint ,.ewisb'rg: "'cknell U-, $))D0, E* 7*
9c#en=ie, 3ibliograh' and the /ociolog' o" .e&ts ,Cambridge: Cambridge U-, $)))0,
and written sim'ltaneo'sl with m doctoral dissertation, ;ln White/s 2eading the
9rahic /ur"ace: .he <resence o" the 3ook in <rose Fiction $9anchester U-, (%%N0*
,uttin- theory into +ratie
?enon 7a8fer/s +rogrammatic article .iberat're* An a++endi1 to the dictionar
of literar terms
$(
, in which he +'t forward a s'ggestion for a form'lation of s'ch a
literar genre, accom+anied an e1hibition of 'nconventional books we c'rated in the
&agiellonian .ibrar as a +art of "loomsda $))) celebrations
$@
* Kther works came
from -olish artists, incl'ding 3adosZaw Mowakowski and Andr=e8 "ednarc=k, two
artists who had ha++il embraced liberat're as a more a++ro+riate label for what the
had been doing* Gn Mowakowski/s case that was a kind of t'rning +oint in the rece+tion
of his work* Altho'gh he had been a s'ccessf'l book artists, reg'larl attending artists/
$$ Carl E* 9almgren, Fictional /aces in the Modernist and <ostmodernist 0merican No=el
,.ewisb'rg: "'cknell U-, $)PN0 DL*
$( 5ekada !iteracka NAL, @% &'ne $))), #rak4w, -oland: P2)* 3ead the !nglish translation [.iberat're*
A++endi1 to a Eictionar of .iterar Terms at: www*liberat'ra*+lAtekst2doste+ne2na2stronie*html
$@ " the wa, we were ha++ to learn that Andi 9c;arr wo'ld be here with 's, as a considerable +art
of the e1hibits came from the We1ford Arts Centre collection of artists/ books, where he worked at
that time*
book fairs and +resenting his work in art galleries and e1hibitions, he e1+ressed
fr'stration at the fact that his books, containing a lot of readable te1t, were 'nread*
Since then he started to be reviewed as a writer and his books are more freR'entl
analsed b literar scholars*



\
\

Andr=e8 "ednarc=k >wi?t'nia kamienia7 .he .emle o"
/tone ,?wi]=ek .iterat4w -olskich: #rak4w, $))N0
Watch the film on:
htt+:AAwww*o't'be*comAwatch?vBT(Sv9@ErfG
3adosZaw Mowakowski Ulica /ienkiewicza
,#ielce: "WA, (%%@0 Watch the film on: www*o't'be*comAwatch?vB5dDt.tR)#lP
All that ins+ired 's to establish a +ermanent reading room where we co'ld
collect and make available s'ch books* 3are co+ies of hand2made books wo'ld be
+laced along those mass2edited works that we have sensed or fo'nd o't to be
engineered b their a'thors, s'ch as the above mentioned .a'rence Sterne, "* S*
&ohnson or &ames &oce* "eside those, the collection wo'ld incl'de critical and
theoretical +'blications tackling on the materialit of the book, and an other as+ect
related to liberat're* Two ears later we vent'red into a collaboration with 9aZo+olski
Gnstit'te of C'lt're where we la'nched .iberat're 3eading 3oom in Kctober (%%(, now
located in the centre of #rak4w, in #armelicka street no (O* The collection consist
+artl of o'r own books, donations b artists and scholars, and, onl recentl, books
bo'ght with occasional grants* .ast ear the reading room team won a grant from the
-olish "ook Gnstit'ted and the -olish 9inistr for C'lt're and Mational 5eritage, which
allowed 's to rela'nch an '+dated website ,see the website at: www*liberat'ra*+l< the
!nglish version is 'nder constr'ction0, +'rchase some books for the collection and
+rod'ce a series of videos +resenting the conce+t of liberat're, and most interesting
items from the collection ,the introd'ctor video with !nglish s'btitles is available at:
www*o't'be*comAwatch?vBr;W;D!SS.kg0*
A ear later, in (%%@, in the wake of interest in o'r creative and academic work
we managed to +ers'ade a fo'ndation for develo+ment of c'lt're #or+orac8a 5a6art,
which r'ns a +'blishing ho'se 5a6art, to la'nch a series of liberatic books* The first
book in .iberat'ra line was o'r $O%atrzenie, which accom+anied an iss'e of Ha@art
,no (A(%%@< an interdisci+linar maga=ine on c'lt're0 devoted to o'r work7 The series
has slowl gained moment'm, and so far it has +'blished seven items, incl'ding -olish
and foreign a'thors ,see the series website at: www*ha*art*+lAinde1*+h+?
var$BShow3ecsAll>>var(B(ND 0 * Gt incl'des the following titles:
Qol $* #atar=na "a=arnik, ?enon 7a8fer $O%atrzenie* (%%@
,Watch the film at: www*liberat'ra*+lA2o2+atr=enie*html0
Qol* (* ?enon 7a8fer, /ogl?daj?c rzez ozonow? dziurA* (%%D
3ut 8'eing !ike Ozone Whole* trans* #* "artnicki, (%%D
second corrected edition (%%)
,Watch the film at: www*liberat'ra*+lAs+oglada8ac2+r=e=2o=onowa2d=i're*html0
Qol* @* St:+hane 9allarm: 2zut koBmi nigd' nie zniesie
rz'adku, biling'al edition, transl* Tomas= 34^cki, (%%N
,Watch the film at: www*liberat'ra*+lAr='t2koscmi*html0
Qol* D* StanisZaw C=c= 02W (%%O
,Watch the film at: www*liberat'ra*+lAarw*html0
Qol* N* "ran Stanle &ohnson NieszczAni HThe
Unfort'natesI, transl* #atar=na "a=arnik, (%%P
,Watch the film at: www*liberat'ra*+lAnies=c=esni*html0
Qol* L* 3amond _'enea' /to t'siAc' miliard+w
wiersz' HCent mille milliards de +o`mesI,
transl* &an ;ondowic=, (%%P
,Watch the film at:
www*liberat'ra*+lAsto2tsiec2miliardow2wiers=*html 0
Qol* O* ;eorges -erec C'cie instrukcja obs-ugi H.a vie mode
d/em+loiI, second corrected edition (%%)
and a leaflet to accom+an the series: ;o to jest liberatura4 HWhat is liberat're?I (%%P*
Gn +re+aring each +'blication we +a s+ecial attention to the a'thor/s intentions,
tring to establish or restore the original lao't 's'all r'ined b editors who, strange as
it ma seem, 's'all disregard the a'thor/s design* The series is finding its fans: an
im+ortant literar critic, .es=ek "'ga8ski described U.iberat'reU favo'rabl as the most
e1traordinar +'blishing line in -oland* E'ring the WrocZaw ;ood "ooks 7air
&ohnson/s NieszczAni H.he Un"ortunatesI was elected one of the si1 best books of the
ear +'blished in -oland in (%%P, and 5a6art was +raised for a brave and conseR'ent
+romotion of liberat're, while in 7ebr'ar (%%) a 8o'rnal for -olish literat're teachers
<olonist'ka co'nted liberat're as one of the most interesting +oetic trends in the last
twent ears, +'tting forward 7a8fer/s /ogl?daj?c <rzez Ozonow? 5ziurA ,3ut 8'eing
!ike Ozone Whole0 as a s'ggested reading for the newest literar canon* Gt has also
attracted some interest from abroad* Gn the a't'mn of (%%P a Eanish literar maga=ine
5en 3lD <ort ,no O)0
$D
+'blished .iberat're* ,An A++endi1 to a Eictionar of .iterar
Terms0 with 7a8fer/s brief commentar* K'r efforts to locate liberat're on the ma+ of
literar works have been to++ed off when last ear the team of editors of .he
;omanion to the !iterar' 9enres edited b a team of scholars led b +rof* ;a=da of
the Universit of a4db decided to incl'de a record on liberat're in the forthcoming
edition of the dictionar
$N
*
Th's, what started as a creative +ro8ect of writing Oka-leczenie, has grown and
develo+ed into manifold activities: la'nching and c'rating a book collection and a
reading room, enco'raging and s'++orting scholarl work ,it sho'ld be mentioned that
the librar contains several master theses and two doctoral dissertation on liberat're,
and some f'rther +ro8ect are 'nder wa0, ed'cating st'dents ,several 'niversit
sllab'ses in literat're and c'lt're de+artments incl'de liberat're, not to mention m
co'rse called 7rom Sterne to .iberat're ta'ght in the !nglish Ee+artment of the
&agiellonian Universit0, giving talks on the s'b8ect to vario's a'diences, editing a
+'blishing line, and, last b't not least, o'r own creative work*
We wo'ld like to close the +resentation of liberat're with demonstrating an
e1cer+t from ?enon/s latest +iece: a liberatic vol'me of +oetr dwadziecia jeden liter
,ten letters
$L
0 which +roblematises, inter alia, the relation between +rinted and virt'al
te1ts* Gt incl'des several +rinted +oems whose material form cannot be translated into
the digital format as the are, for e1am+le, +rinted on folded +ages* "'t the final +iece
$D 7or the s'mmar of the iss'e in Eanish see: htt+:AAafsnit+*dkA+log'ltraA(%%PA$%A$DAliberat'r2og2
alternativ2tegnscC@cALtning2den2bla2+ort2nr2O)A
$N See the collected bibliogra+h of Eagadnienia rodzaj+w literackich ,.he <roblems o" !iterar'
9enres0 , section: 9AT!3GA.S TK T5! UEGCTGKMA3S K7 T5! .GT!3A3S ;!M3!S:
Agnies=ka -r=bs=ewska, .iberat'ra, and !2liberat'ra, vol* ., $2(, ,))2$%%0 ++* (NN2(NP and
(DO res+ectivel* Whtt+:AAwww*k'lt'ro=nawstwo*'ni*lod=*+lAimagesAstoriesA"G".GK;3A7GAc(%$2
N%*+dfX
$L The -olish title dwad=iedcia 8eden liter means twent2one letters, which is the n'mber of
characters in this +hrase* The !nglish title ten letters of the vol'me retains this isomor+hism, or
'nit of form and content*
is a CE containing a kinetic +oem -rimi'm 9obile that, when +laed in a com+'ter,
reveals the dnamic nat're of emanational te1ts which involve and evolve on the screen
before the reader/s ees* ,The first +art of -rim'm 9obile is Ars -oetica, the +oems
whose +rinted, static version o+ens dwadziecia jeden liter* and its kinetic version
closes it< it is also available on2line at:
www*techst*art*+lAmaga=n@Afa8ferAArsC+oeticaC+olish*html,
www*techst*art*+lAmaga=n@Afa8ferAArsC+oeticaCenglish*html0
.a++in- the #ink%
Since the +ro8ect Traditional and emerging formats of artistsV books: Where do we go
from here? aims at ma++ing relations among vario's forms of creative +'blications, G
wo'ld like to s'ggest a classification based on the a'thor/s or artist/s attit'de to T!TT
and +oint o't where liberat're can be located in this ma+* Th's,
/UB0TE1T
wo'ld embrace what is 's'all called artists/ books* G wo'ld define these as artworks,
sometimes ass'ming the sha+e of the code1 and sometimes all'ding to it in some wa,
that are ins+ired b the traditional sha+e and f'nction of the book to creativel reflect on
them* Te1t ma or ma not a++ear in s'ch artefacts, b't if it does, it 's'all f'nctions as
an a'1iliar medi'm of e1+ression since the foc's of the artist is on the s+atial and
vis'al form* Kr the artist ma be ins+ired b the sha+e of a letter or a word to +la on
their gra+hic and semantic +otential ,G co'nt concrete +oetr here0*
2340TE1T
wo'ld embrace works in which both the gra+hic design and the te1t are eR'all
im+ortant and one cannot be 'nderstood and a++reciated witho't the other* The
+rovide conte1t for each other, and tension and inter+la between them +rod'ces
meaning* Kf co'rse, G am not taking abo't inter+retation, b't abo't an integrative
activit in which a'thors design, write, draw, and often make their books themselves*
William "lake is the most obvio's case in +oint ,one cannot reall 'nderstand wh his
ill'minated +oems are re+rinted as mere te1ts0* 3adosZaw Mowakowski seems to be
another* Gn m o+inion, ?enon 7a8fer/s Ozone whole belongs here, too* This is where
liberat're and artists/ books overla+: here is the ne1's where the two genres CKM2nect
and CK92m'nicate*
,RE0TE1T
is the final categor which wo'ld refer to works in which the literar ,ling'istic0 te1t is
of +rimar im+ortance, b't the a'thor is aware of the +resence of the book and makes
the reader aware of this as well* A te1t +re2e1ists the gra+hic form or the architect'ral
design and is the dominating element of the whole* So if a book ass'mes an
'nconventional sha+e or 'ses 'nconventional material, it is beca'se the writer feels his
or her te1t demands that form, that this is the most a++ro+riate form in which his or her
message can be e1+ressed* These books are 's'all traditional codices, and belong to
ordinar literat're, b't the are 's'all called eccentric or gimmick beca'se
the kee+ reminding their readers that the are material ob8ects ,and this reminder is a
willf'l design of their a'thors0* The can be fo'nd among artists/s books, too< then the
are sometimes +erceived as d'll or too te1t'al b +eo+le e1+ecting more of an
architect'ral or vis'al finer* And their a'thors feel disa++ointed that galler a'diences
are not +re+ared to read them* We +ost'late that these books can finall be relocated
from the margins of literat're or vis'al arts into their own territor called liberature and
that the tradition to which the belong sho'ld be finall recognised as an old and +otent
+resence in the co'rse of literar histor*
/ome arti#e% on #i$erature a5ai#a$#e in En-#i%h!
"a=arnik, #atar=na* &oce, .iberat're and Writing of the "ook* H'ermedia (o'ce
/tudies, vol* P no (, (%%O*
W htt+:AAh8s*ff*c'ni*c=AarchivesAvPC(AmainAessas*+h+?essaBba=arnikX
"a=arnik, #atar=na* .iberat're: a Mew .iterar ;enre?* #nsistent #mages, ed* !*
Tabakowska, C* .8'ngberg > K* 7ischer* Gconicit in .ang'age and .iterat're, vol*
N* AmsterdamA-hiladel+hia: &ohn "en8amins, (%%O* $)$2(%P*
"a=arnik, #atar=na* S'mmar* Od (o'ce)a do liberatur'* #rakow: Universitas, (%%(*
Hon2line version available at: www*liberat'ra*+lAtekst2doste+ne2na2stronie*htmlI
"a=arnik, #atar=na, ?enon 7a8fer* !iberature* #rak4w: Art+artner, (%%N* "roch're
+re+ared for the N
th
Gnternational Sm+osi'm on Gconicit in .ang'age and
.iterat're, #rak4w2Amsterdam, (%%N*
7a8fer, ?enon* .iberat're* A++endi1 to a Eictionar of .iterar Terms* Transl* #*
"a=arnik* !iberature* #rak4w: Art+artner, (%%N* "roch're +re+ared for the N
th
Gnternational Sm+osi'm on Gconicit in .ang'age and .iterat're, #rak4w2
Amsterdam, (%%N* (2O* Hon2line version of the article available at:
www*liberat'ra*+lAtekst2doste+ne2na2stronie*htmlI