Emissaries of Parallel Worlds: How a German, a Jew and an Old WomanNuminously Infl ected the Reality of Neighbourhood

Abstract

The article demonstrates the constructive and numinous nature of the neighbourhood of categoriesof people stereotypically considered mutually hostile or superior/inferior, as well as of peopleand nature to which they belong although they do not pay attention to it on a daily basis. The readingof three selected prose works published at the turn of 21st century – by P. Huelle, S. Chwin, andO. Tokarczuk – highlights previously overlooked aspects of neighbourly relations, a peculiar interpretationof which in 2015–2023 came to the fore in Polish public discourse on neighbourhoods thatare unwanted or cause problems.