Szczerość i autotematyzm. Przypadek dwóch tekstów publicystycznych Wilhelma Macha

Sincerity and Autothematism. The Case of Two Journalistic Texts by Wilhelm MachIn the present article I examine in detail two journalistic texts by the Polish writer Wilhelm Mach. The main concern of the analysis is Mach’s implicit anxiety to be sincere. I am arguing here that the requirement for sincerity is intricately connected with the political atmosphere of the Thaw period in Poland, which began after Stalin’s death. I put forward the thesis that Mach’s positive validation of sincerity influences his programmatic metafiction and constitutes a reaction to the political situation. At the same time, reading the writer’s proposals against the background of the then-popular Soviet philosopher Vladimir Pamerancev’s ideas, I demonstrate that Mach is not convinced by the model of subjectivity behind the idea of honesty promoted at the time. His awareness of the role of literary conventions leads him to ironic subversion of the idea of directness and sincerity in literature.