The Actualization of the Holy Scripture by Roman Brandstaetter: from "Jesus of Nazareth" to "The Song of My Christ"

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine selected literary works by Roman Brandstaetter inspired by the Bible from the point of view of their updating of the content of the Holy Scriptures. The analytical and interpretative method adopted in the study made it possible to distinguish and characterise different varieties of the author’s creative attitude. In the extensive epic work Jezus z Nazarethu (Jesus of Nazareth), the writer applied a strategy of objectivisation, to which he subordinated his creative decisions. He took a different approach in the poetic cycle Pieśń o moim Chrystusie (Song of My Christ), where he introduced autobiographical themes and revealed many aspects of his personal relationship with Jesus. Moreover, he confronted the Gospel and other books of the Bible with the tragic history of the 20th century, a time of wars, the Holocaust, ideological and cultural decline and chaos. In this way, he made the Gospel and the figure of Jesus present in his own biography and in his contemporaneity, while at the same time making the biblical content the touchstone for evaluating his own life, as well as the history and culture of his time.