Postsecular Instruments of Acculturation. Czesław Miłosz’s Works from the Second American Stay

What is it about?

The article examines the ways in which religious tradition can become an ally in the process of acculturation while serving the modern subject both as a springboard for innovative, creative work and as a tool of self-improvement. Czesław Miłosz, Polish poet, translator, academic and essayist, recipient of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature, has spent the most of his life migrating through the borders of states, continents, languages and cultures. His works from his second stay in the United States (1961-1980) are analysed from the postsecular perspective which recognises religion as a full-fledged actor in the process of modern transformations that may broaden the field of artistic choice but remains vulnerable to artistic resemantizations or even profanations (Agamben).

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Why is it important?

In this article, I look at a trajectory that has not been reflected upon so far, i.e. the use of the religious tradition from the poets source culture as the material employed in the process of acculturation. The ability to see the importance and novelty of such practices is perceived by the post-secular thought exploring the complexity of the relationship between religion and modernity. It recognizes the legitimate presence of religion in modern societies and the important role of religious traditions and theological concepts within the project of modernity, while it explores the transformations they are subjected to, and the specificity of religious beliefs that is a consequence of these transformations. Seen from such a perspective, Miłosz’s writing reveals an affinity between philosophical and sociological inquiry and the search conducted by the poet via artistic means.