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16
Introduction
frontationwithmoresophisticatedthanIanFlemming’sBondnovelsthey
initiallyanalyzed,structuralistspainstakinglyawokefromtheirueuphor-
icdreamofscientificity,”asBarthesmaliciouslylaterputit(1971:97),and
acreationofauniversalgrammarofliteratureremainedautopian–ordys-
topian–concept.
Alienationofstructuralistschemes,typologiesanddiagramsfromeve-
rydaylifeandliteratureitselfledtoanothersignificantturninperception
ofliterature:post-structuralism.Aggravatedwithuthepetty,inadequate
preciseness”andutheenslavementofliterarysignsinatautologicalnetof
names”1(Burzyńska,Markowski2007:310),andaparadoxofincoherence
ofavastmultitudeofuunifying”theories,suchscholarsasDerrida,Barthes,
FoucaultorKristevacriticizedmodernitywithstructuralismatitspeakas
itsmostmagnificentembodiment.Teyopenedgroundforcontemporary
literaturestudies,whichexchangedrestrictivemimesisinfavorofinterpre-
tativefreedom,liberatedliteraturefromtheshacklesofformallinguistics.
Derridaurgesagainststiffeningwithinasetofimposedcategories,encour-
agedgoingbeyondstructures,askingpiercingquestions,quittingschemat-
icthinkingandroutine.Barthessuggeststhateachtextisatheory,andeach
readingbecameanewinterpretation,eternallyrecurringcreation,astruc-
turalistchangedintoawriter.Foucaultopensliteraturestudiestoethical
dimensionanalyzingpowerstructureshiddenwithindiscourses.Kriste-
vaintroducesintertextuality,meaningthatalltextsincorporateprevious
textsinformsofquotations,borrowingsandclichés–thattheyareinterde-
pendent.Sincebirthmanisentangledinsymbolsshapingperception,thus
atexthasnoothertruththantheprocessofmeaningemergence.Postmo-
dernityquestionstheheritageofovertlyrationalistenlightenment,andes-
peciallyitsattemptstolegitimizeandsystematizeexperiencebyreason.It
rejectsthenotionofustrong”subject,Cartesianpurecogitoergo(including
literarysubjectandauthor)anditswilltosubduetheworld.Itrefutesto-
talphilosophicalsystemsandmeta-narrationssupposedtolegitimizegoals
andsourcesofhumanactivity,includingresultsofscientificinquirythus
questioningobjectivityanduniversalityoftruth.Terefore,resigningfrom
cognitivefundamentalismandessentialism,contemporaryliterarytheory
isfragmentedintoamultitudeofliterarytheories,whicharewaryofim-
posingrestrictionsonliteraryinterpretationsandareopentoencompass-
ingethical,ethnic,political,sexual,racial,postcolonial,philosophical,reli-
giousorgenerallyculturalcontextsintheiranalyses.
1AlltranslationsfromPolishbyme,unlessotherwisestated.
