Agnieszka Osiecka and Jeremi Przybora’s „Letter on Drained Paper”. Epistolary Strategies

Abstract

This essay is devoted to Letter on Drained Paper [Listy na wyczerpanym papierze] by Agnieszka Osiecka and Jeremi Przybora covering the years 1964–1966. Its aim is to show the epistolographic strategies adopted by the correspondents. First, by analysing the structure of the letters, I characterise the authors’ writing style, juxtaposing its similarities and differences. This makes it possible to show the features characteristic of a love letter, to which Osiecka and Przybora’s collection belongs. I also look at what influences the uniqueness of the love story and the development of their feelings in the epistolographic space. This allows one to see how the authors’ writing workshops differ and how the correspondents express their emotions. I also highlight the performative role of correspondence and how writers can create each other. An analysis of the unspoken words in the letters is also important. I show what effect such a procedure had on the reader’s perception of the correspondence. Then I focus on the structure of the correspondence of Agnieszka Osiecka and Jeremi Przybora, showing the style of the artists, the differences in their writing and the common features of their letters. I characterise Osiecka’s and Przybora’s writing separately. I outline the evolution of the writers’ feelings in love throughout their correspondence. I also draw attention to the role of the space the artists were in at any given time and how the songs of the lovers complemented their correspondence.