Teodor Parnicki – Historical Truth in the Experimental Novel (on the example of the novel Tylko Beatrycze (Only Beatrice)

Abstract

The article presents the concept of historical truth in the experimental novel. In T.Parnicki's work it was deepened owing to looking at history from the point of view of theology and spirituality, which leads to a different way of problematizing the issue than the one known before. The article emphasizes this aspect that has not been described in detail yet. Another dependence is revealed then – dependence between new novel forms and history of theology, that has a basic significance for the poetics of the work.

Well thought-out references in the structure of the work to modern historiography, feminist and apophatic theology reveal the self-consciousness of the novel not only as a novel, but also as a historical novel. Analysis of the technique level in such an approach to historical truth allows re-organizing the present state of knowledge and revealing new research perspectives focused around the essence of history, which is history of spirituality (history of the inner life, monastic history and contemplation).