GOMBROWICZ, WITOLD

born Aug. 4, 1904, Maloszyce, near Opatw, Pol., Russian Empire [now in Poland] died July 25, 1969, Vence, France Polish novelist, short-story writer, and dramatist, best known for the novel Ferdydurke (1937) and other absurdist satires. Gombrowicz spent 24 years (1939-63) in voluntary exile in Argentina. His writings were banned in turn by the Nazis, the Stalinists, and the Polish government, and though he returned to Europe in 1963, he settled in France rather than his native Poland. He published his postwar work abroad: the novels Trans-Atlantyk (1953), Pornografia (1960), and Kosmos (1965). Gombrowicz described his first novel, Ferdydurke, as the "grotesque story of a gentleman who becomes a child because other people treat him like one." The dominant theme of his writings is the innate immaturity of human beings. He portrays humanity as incapable of understanding the world without depending on the spurious knowledge and shallow opinions of others. The resulting sadomasochistic relationships, in which individuals hide their own ignorance and uncertainty while constantly trying to expose it in others, provide the substance of Gombrowicz' rather eccentric plots. The style and language of his plays are unique and highly idiosyncratic, as can be seen in Iwona, ksiezniczka Burgunda (1938; Ivona, Princess of Burgundia), Slub (1953; The Marriage), and in his diaries, Dziennik, 3 vol. (1953-66). His short stories include Pamietnik z okresu dojrzewania (1933; "Memoirs of an Adolescent") and Bakakaj (1957).