About the Book
In the midst of a multi-national comparative study of modern Catholic poets, Charles S. Kraszewski was more than a little surprised at the difficulty he encountered in finding a representative poet from that ostensibly most Catholic of European nations, Poland. With but two guiding criteria in mind – the poet had to be possessed of a Catholic world view and have a significant impact on the development of modern poetry – it seemed that Polish poets were either very good . . . or Catholic. Then, in 2004, during the funeral of the Nobel Prize winning poet Czesław Miłosz, it was revealed that the poet had written a recent letter to the Pope, declaring his intent, in his later writings, to express a Catholic viewpoint.This was a surprising admission, given the rather heterodox reputation that characterized the poet during his long lifetime. Irresolute Heresiarch: Catholicism, Gnosticism and Paganism in the Poetry of Czesław Miłosz is the fruit of Kraszewski's research into the religious themes expressed in the poetry of the great bard. Beginning with his earliest published poems and continuing through the posthumously printed collections, the book is a careful consideration of the religious claims set forth in Miłosz's works, which range from orthodox Christianity, through dualism and gnostic thought, with a healthy dose of pagan appraisal of the wonder of the natural world.In response to the question "Was Miłosz a Catholic poet?" Kraszewski first attempts to define that category, on the basis of Catholic core beliefs, and later, in a comparative discussion of indubitably Catholic greats, such as T. S. Eliot, Jan Zahradníček, and Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau. Although for the sake of clarity he focuses only on the poems, and not the prose works, of Czesław Miłosz, the answer to the question is made all the more difficult by the very personal lyrical "I" adopted by Miłosz in his poetic practice. Which "I" is speaking, when Manichean thought is expressed, and which "I" is it, that invokes the saints at moments of temptation? Whatever the answer to these questions may be, Irresolute Heresiarch is successful in highlighting the wide range, and complex nature, of one of the most influential and important poets of our time.
About the Author :
Charles S. Kraszewski is a poet, translator, and literary critic, specializing in the literatures of Europe, specifically Polish, Czech and Slovak. He has published several books in literary criticism and translation theory; his articles and translations have appeared in journals both in North America and Poland, including The New Yorker, Canadian Slavonic Papers, Paideuma and Odra. A collection of his verse, Diet of Nails, is in production at Červená Barva Press. He currently teaches at King's College in Pennsylvania.
Review :
"There is a strange contrast between the tenor of much of the poetry of Czesław Miłosz, and his concern at least towards the end of his life 'to write poetry that should not depart from Catholic orthodoxy.' In his ground breaking book Dr Kraszewski considers by careful analysis of the poet's works whether he succeeded. However, the book's importance goes beyond this particular poet. By considering Miłosz's poetry in the context of three other writers who were both modern (in the literary sense of the word) and whose work was recognizably Catholic, Kraszewski addresses the general question of Catholicism and modern (or modernist) poetry in general, and thus provides criteria for other scholars to follow." – Rev. Janusz A. Ihnatowicz, STD, Professor Emeritus of Theology, University of Saint Thomas; Poet, recipient of the 2011 Literary Award of the Union of Polish Writers in Emigration"Charles Kraszewski's Irresolute Heresiarch is a deeply probing, erudite, and splendidly written exploration of the complex nature of Czesław Miłosz's attitudes toward Christianity and Catholicism in the entire body of his poetry. While respectful of Miłosz's achievement and legacy, Kraszewski is not a blind worshipper as others who have written on him. He lays bare his inconsistencies, contradictions, and weaknesses as a poet, and as a Catholic, and demonstrates how these have shaped his views of man, God, and Christ. Enriched by his thorough knowledge of the Catholic tradition, Kraszewski is well equipped to deal with so central an issue as the belief that despair lies at the very foundation of Miłosz's poetic creation. Irresolute Heresiarch abounds in meaningful and enlightening references to other poets from Dante to the postmoderns. In an excellent concluding chapter, Kraszewski places the Polish Nobel Prize laureate in the context of such other Catholic modern poets as T. S. Eliot, the Czech Jan Zahradníček, and the Québécois Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau, and shows how the persistent presence of anti-Christian themes in his poetry differentiates Miłosz from these other poets. For anyone interested in a revealing yet balanced understanding of one of the great poets of our age, Irresolute Heresiarch – its title well chosen – is must reading."– Harold B. Segel, Professor Emeritus of Slavic Literatures and of Comparative Literature, Columbia University''There is much of interest throughout these pages, though much to disagree with as well. The scholar weaves extensive webs of commentary in which fragments taken from one poem cast an unexpected light on another. He also situates the poems in a rich context of biographical facts, letters, essays, and ideas borrowed from the Church Fathers (St. Augustine, St. Anselm, and St. Thomas Aquinas), Gnostic writers, Polish Romantic classics like Zygmunt Krasinski, and more.''- Maja Trochimczyk, 'The Sarmatian Review', 34:2 (April 2013), 1759-1762, p. 1761."[T]he reader obtains a solid monograph on the celebrated Polish Nobel Prize laureate that follows the movement of the poet's Weltanschauung, trying to perceptively identify its most significant moments and swerves." - Tadeusz Slawek, Slavic Review 72:2 (Summer 2013), 396-397.
