A Punishment Cell of Culture and the Schizophrenic Condition Notes on Włodzimierz Perzyński’s Franio and His Happiness

Abstract

The article is an attempt of analysis and interpretation of the “Young Poland“ comedy written by Włodzimierz Perzyński in psychopathological or psychoanalytical perspective. The author draws reader’s attention to artistic achievements of Włodzimierz Perzyński who was a Polish novelist, comedy writer, columnist and poet, satirist and ironist and he died eighty years ago. The article is informally built out of two parts: Michel Foucault’s cultural criticism is a context of the first part, in the second one the author uses general psychoanalytical theories of Sigmund Freud and Karen Horney. A neurotic personality, neurotic disturbances in the relations between people and activities of individuals in the different social situations are an object of analysis and interpretation. The author discussing one of the most famous Perzyński’s comedies tries to show that the Polish writer’s plays are interesting and opening a lot of perspectives of interpretation.