"Loose Parts:" On Symptom and Literature

The article presents the psychoanalytic symptom as a descriptive category in the characteristics of the modern and postmodern subjects. The author starts by comparing concepts by Freud and Lacan, while also indicating the possibility of translating them into the field of literary studies. The proposed examples of literary interpretations - specifically works by Gombrowicz interpreted by M. P. Markowski and L. Neuger - not only reflect the psychoanalytic dichotomy in the understanding of a symptom's function but also fit into a broader perspective of reflection on the subject. Thus, the article attempts to utilize psychoanalysis as a tool for constructing a metalinguistic discourse.