Quidam. Around the Semantics of the Title

Abstract

Starting from the ambiguousness of the title word Quidam, the author of the article points to various possible interpretations of the poem by Norwid. It can be read as a parable whose semantic background is constituted by biblical events. It can also be understood in the context of the Norwidian poetics of „white flowers”, as a juxtaposition of common, „quiet” people and a common scenery on the one hand and romantic heroes and events on the other. Still another way of reading the poem could be revealed by the process of the „anonymous” birth of Chri­stia­nity in the multicultural and stable ancient Rome that is shown in the work. An interpre­tation focused on „humanitas” of the Roman Empire and of the ancient culture would notice the picture of the unavoidable loss of their identity shown in Quidam. An interpretation paying attention to the signs having a symbolic character would show the anthropological dimension of the poem, reaching the two-plane Christian vision of man contained in it. Each of the indi­cated directions in which interpretation could go, would refer to a different meaning of the pronoun Quidam – the one-word title of the poem.