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Letters of the Nameless One

Summary/Abstract: The title Nameless One is Józefina Szelińska, Bruno Schulz’s fiancé who, however, never became his wife. The author reconstructs the history of their relationship, from their first meeting in 1933 through a period of friendship, marital plans, contradictory ideas about the future, and the ultimate breakup in 1937. The essay is also an attempt to account for the later life of Szelińska and draw a psychological portrait of the mysterious woman, hiding in all publications behind the initial „J.” Little has been known about her so far. The author relies on Szelińska’s letters to Jerzy Ficowski. Their correspondence began in1948 with Szelińska’s response to Ficowski’s appeal for any information about Schulz, published in "Przekrój". The exchange of letters continued for forty years until the woman committed suicide in 1991. In almost eighty letters written by her to Ficowski, one can find the rhythm of her destiny, a cryptic cardiogram of her exiled memory, a record ofthe past that can not be traced on the surface.

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