Melancholics on the Vistula River

The article discusses the theme of melancholy in Polish prose of the 21st century, using four contemporary novels – Pokolenie Ikea [The IKEA generation](2012) by Piotr C., Wszyscy jesteśmy hipsterami [We are all hipsters] (2016) by Dariusz Radecki, Melanżeria [Melangery] (2011) by Anna Klara Majewska and Za pięć rewolta [Five minutes to a revolt] (2011) by Dawid Kain – as conspicuous examples of its presence. The author suggests that due to the increased pace of social and technological changes the generation of thirty-year-olds experiences a feeling of melancholy, formerly characteristic for elderly people and analyses the protagonists of the novels selected to present how they cope with a reality that does not fulfil them.