April 1986

It is a collection of essays dealing with topics related to the mainstream of Ficowski’s schulzological interests*. According to the author, “Deviations from The Cinnamon Shops towards its more distant surroundings is based on the belief that they can provide significant commentaries, shed new light, help reconstruct the whole”¹. The essays are devoted to the history of some unknown works by Bruno Schulz (“Nagrobek Henrietty i Jakuba, czyli dzieło zniszczone i dzieło niezniszczalne”, “Expose, czyli bezowocne starania i późna sława”), as well as to the fate of some people from Schulz’s milieu, such as Stanisław Weingarten*, Laura Wurzberg*, Feliks Lachowicz*. Some essays are polemical towards the claims of Andrzej Chciuk* („Nawracanie na cudzą wiarę, czyli każdy ma to, na czym mu zależy”), Artur Sandauer* („Feretron z pantofelkiem”, „Przygotowanie do podróży, czyli ostatnia droga Brunona Schulza”), and Małgorzata Kitowska-Łysiak*² („Xięga Bałwochwalcza, czyli szyby naftowe i sklepy cynamonowe”). Ficowski devotes individual essays to the history of his research (“Panna Laura, czyli zagubione personalia”), as well as to the fate of the materials sought („Strych na Floriańskiej*, czyli ostatnia wizyta Feiwela Schreiera”*, „Listy, które są, i listy, które były, czyli co przeoczyło fatum”). Ficowski’s poems devoted to Schulz are also included in the book: the poem “Drohobycz 1920”* is a gloss to the essay “Feretron z pantofelkiem”, at the end of the book there is a poem “Mój nieocalony”*.

In her discussion of Okolice…, Joanna Godlewska describes the author: “He is a follower – at times an impulsive one, or even with some tendencies of a fanatic; one might say that he is unjust. But, as Jan Stanisławski used to say, ‘It is God who is meant to be just’ – and a man deprived of an invigorating passion would never have undertaken a similar task”³. Godlewska emphasizes Ficowski’s role in filling white spots in cultural history not only by discovering Schulz’s work, but also by reminding forgotten figures associated with him.

Włodzimierz Paźniewski believes that Ficowski’s book constitutes for the reader “an impulse to build his/her own reflections on the margins of literature”⁴. According to Paźniewski, the originality of Okolice… consists in it paying attention to the cultural context in which Schulz’s work appeared. “Okolice… is an attempt (let’s add: an excellent one) to recreate the closer and the more distant circles of people, as well as the atmosphere of the town in which Schulz’s work emerged. In our cultural area, unlike, for example, in Anglo-Saxon culture, the study of the contexts of writing has been quite considerably neglected”⁵.

Krzysztof Myszkowski emphasizes the value of Ficowski’s exploration and reconstruction activities for our knowledge about Schulz. In the opinion of the reviewer, the weaknesses of the book are “those excerpts that present the polemics or the trials and tribulations with publishers”⁶. 

Zbigniew Florczak draws attention to the elevated style of Ficowski: “This blurry source oozes Big Letters and various solemn headlines; there is too much apotheosis. After a dozen pages of this falsely exquisite book (published on some sleazy paper) - doubt is dispersed”⁷. Florczak considers three last essays the most interesting parts of the book – they are devoted to the history of Schulz’s correspondence and to the circumstances of his death. He also acknowledges Ficowski’s claim about “the subordination of Schulz’s artistic works in relation to his literary achievement”⁸. 

In an essay discussing Okolice… and the book on Witold Gombrowicz by Joanna Siedlecka Jaśnie panicz, Jan Kott sees the most important feature of Ficowski’s work in restoring the memory about Schulz’s lost world (he figuratively compares Ficowski’s project to one in which the ancient Slavic ritual of the Forefather’s Eve would be organized in a Jewish cemetery). “Ficowski is sensitive to the mythology of the Schulzland, but in the last book, perhaps even more explicitly than in earlier ones, real places and faces are dug up. The empty frames after the dead are filled with shadows”⁹.

Regiony wielkiej herezji i okolice. Bruno Schulz i jego mitologia contains reprints of some of the essays originally published in Okolice sklepów cynamonowych; some editorial changes were introduced, and titles were simplified. (mr) (transl. mw)