Potwór, którym więc jestem [o Dziadach i Dusiołku]

In my essay The Monster that therefore I am I attempt to sketch the ethical and etymological roots of a Polish monster. The literary context of Adam Mickiewicz’s Dziady and Bolesław Leśmian’s Dusiołek is of particular importance. On the basis of these texts it is possible to sketch a model of the Polish monster, who fundamentally differs from its Western counterpart due to its specifically ethical function. The title of the article is a travesty of the title of Jacques Derrida’s text The Animal that Therefore I am and refers to the French philosopher’s reflection upon the otherness/difference.