STANISLAW BARANCZAK
89
of Gombrowicz's many escapes from this or another Fonn that sti–
fled and immobilized him; this time, from the Fonn that his entire
life up to that point had taken on. The first Argentinian years,
however, while indeed offering him inner freedom by cutting off all
of his previous ties and obligations, and transplanting him onto the
soil ofa "young" country with no historical Fonn of its own, were also
extremely difficult due to his isolation and financial hardship. To
make ends meet, he finally took a poorly paid job as a clerk in a
Polish bank in Buenos Aires.
In
whatever spare time he had, he
worked on his new novels and plays, largely unknown as a writer
among his Polish fellow exiles but, ironically, finding more and
more admirers among young Argentinian literati. A sort of cult
following that developed in the narrow circle of his Argentinian
friends resulted in a collective Spanish translation of
Ferdydurke.
Meanwhile, Gombrowicz returned to the Polish emigre literary
scene in
1953
with his new novel
Trans-Atlantyk
issued jointly with
the play
The Marriage
in Paris. This particular novel, arguably Gom–
browicz's best and certainly funniest (it is a shame that it remains
untranslated into English), was met with vitriolic attacks from the
conservative trenches of the emigre community for its satirical
demolition of the most sacred patriotic cliches and general "lack of
seriousness." On the other hand, after
1957-58,
when four of Gom–
browicz's books had been published in Poland during the brief
period of political relaxation, he became an idol for many young
writers and critics there.
Between
1957
and
1966,
Gombrowicz published, through the
same publishing house in Paris, the rest of his most important books
written in exile: two novels,
Pornografia
and
Cosmos,
and
Diary
in
three volumes, the last of which also included his third and final
play,
Operetta.
The sixties finally brought him recognition in Western
Europe, where no less than Camus and Sartre had been involved in
persuading publishers and theaters to take on his work.
In
1963,
he
received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and left for
Europe. After some time spent in West Berlin, he moved to Paris
and finally settled with his young French-Canadian wife Rita in the
small town of Vence in southern France. Translations, premieres,
and literary prizes, all that dreamed-of European fame came along,
however, with the rapid deterioration of his health. Mter a long
struggle with respiratory diseases he died in Vence
in
1969.
Gombrowicz's cult in Poland is a special matter.
It
has been
spreading and intensifying ever since the appearance of his books in
