Abstract
The title of Witold Gombrowicz's first novel, Ferdydurke, has inspired a great deal of speculation as to its possible meanings since the work was first published in 1937. Even in 1986, when Bodgan Baran discovered that the title came from Sinclair Lewis's Babbitt, the matter was still not put to rest. In this essay, the author attempts to discover the meaning behind Gombrowicz's choice of title through a Gombrowiczian reading of Lewis's popular but generally understudied novel. Lewis scholarship has been rather sparse, owing mostly to the attitude that his works were merely examples of popular literature not worth further examination. After using Ferdydurke to explain Gombrowicz's artistic theories, the author applies these to Babbitt, demonstrating that the sociological descriptions underline deeper philosophical understandings of the world that Gombrowicz would later develop in his own writings. These are then reflected in the approach that Gombrowicz and Lewis take to their position as author and artist within their respective national cultures.
