BETWEEN SENSUAL CORPOREALITY AND PURE SPIRITUALITY: THE SPECTRUM OF FEMALE ROLES, AS SEEN IN WACŁAW BERENT’S OZIMINA Cover Image

MIĘDZY ZMYSŁOWĄ CIELESNOŚCIĄ A CZYSTĄ DUCHOWOŚCIĄ DIAPAZON RÓL KOBIECYCH W „OZIMINIE” WACŁAWA BERENTA
BETWEEN SENSUAL CORPOREALITY AND PURE SPIRITUALITY: THE SPECTRUM OF FEMALE ROLES, AS SEEN IN WACŁAW BERENT’S OZIMINA

Author(s): Grażyna Legutko
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Novel, Polish Literature
Published by: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Keywords: Wacław Berent; Ozimina [“Winter Crops”]; female corporeality; literature of the Young Poland movement;

Summary/Abstract: The essay is dedicated to the portrayal of women in Wacław Berent’s novel Ozimina [“Winter Crop”]. Berent uses the strategy of polyphonic narrative, which involves subjectivization of the setting and confrontation of various viewpoints. The writer perceives women mainly through the prism of their biological conditions. The portraits of his female characters depict them as lust- ful bodies, unaware of the deeper essence of human existence. However, in the novel, the sensual female corporeality, which refers to the cultural stereotype of the women as a primordial dark creature, is confronted with the spiritual sphere. From the perspective of prehistoric religions (such as the pagan cult of the mother goddess), Berent’s female characters can be seen as symbols of the eternal mystery of life, identical with the source of fertility and creativity.

  • Issue Year: 36/2023
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 124-141
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: Polish
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