Across and Along

Agnieszka Dauksza

Abstract

The author presents a category of insignificant people whom she conceives to be those who remain in the background, are undistinguished and meaningless as individuals in public order – they constitute “the majority”, and are of little significance in daily life. They remain immersed and entangled in reality upon which they have little impact. They do not feel responsible for the course of events and do not possess of feeling of self-manoeuvrability. The author writes about cultural transformation, the process of individuals distancing themselves from the oppressive model of success, social mobility, and perpetration conceived as planned, determined activity focused on a given target. Scenarios realised in contemporary culture texts focus on the refusal of proactive activity, forms of non-adaptation, and the inability to deal with “life and all its details.” The main theme is mediocrity, daily life that one has to tackle unheroically and without greater chances for success. The “typical” protagonist also undergoes changes and turns into those who “failed”, are weak, do not measure up, are incapable and constantly taken by surprise by something. Within this context the author analyses several “strange” performances of helplessness: acts of grovelling, crawling, swimming, and remaining motionless in public places.