Krajobrazy dzieciństwa. Wokół dwóch powieści Łukasza Barysa

The main objective of this article is to reflect on issues related to the creation of literary images of childhood and visions of initiation in the contemporary version of the genre known as rural prose. The literary strategies indicated are an important part of contemporary literature, as they allow the world to be shown through both individual and collective experiences. Furthermore, in two novels by Łukasz Barys (Kości, które nosisz w kieszeni [The Bones You Carry in Your Pocket] and Jeśli przecięto cię na pół [If You Were Cut in Half]), as in many other texts published in the 21st century, a crucial element is the diagnosis of social and cultural changes as a result of political transformations. The article also addresses the complex relationships between prose depicting the experiences of existential marginality, records of individual emotions, and new visions of communal history. Interpretation leads to discovering the connections between literary records of individual experiences and changes in collective consciousness.