Fenomen autorytetu literackiego Charlesa Bukowskiego .......... 205
Synopsis
THE PHENOMENON OF LITERARY AUTHORITY OF CHARLES BUKOWSKI
The aim of this article is to analyze the phenomenon of Charles Bukowski’s literary authority, with particular emphasis on his work, social reception, and media-driven mythmaking. Bukowski, by contesting institutional forms of recognition and rejecting literary hierarchies, paradoxically became an authority for subsequent generations of writers and readers. The analysis examines the mechanisms that contributed to his cult status – from the reception of his work within interpretive communities, which, as Stanley Fish points out, construct the meaning of texts independently of their autonomous properties, to the commercialization of his image in popular culture. The study applies concepts such as Pierre Bourdieu’s literary field, Harold Bloom’s agonistic space of literature, and Roland Barthes’ theory of mythologies. The findings indicate that Bukowski operates at the intersection of literary authority and cult phenomenon, redefining the ways meaning is constructed in contemporary literature.
