Być obcym u siebie? Marcin Świetlicki i Barbara Gruszka-Zych wobec znaków przynależności

The article is a reflection on the symbols through which the modern experience of cultural belonging is expressed and on the motivations behind their contestation. Examples of selected themes that Marcin Świetlicki and Barbara Gruszka-Zych explore in their writing are used to examine the poetic quest to overcome feelings of alienation in one’s own cultural milieu. In spite of the differences between the two poets, both address the problems facing the contemporary consciousness of Western man, split between the desire to complete the process of deconstructing his own universal “identifying signs” and the need to creatively explore the process of symbolization itself. The issue of “internal acculturation,” as a particular case within the topic of acculturation as a whole, is also correlated to examples drawn from Francophone poetry.