Political Is Private. On Private and Public Space in Zofia Nałkowska’s “The Love of Theresse Hennert,” “Borderline,” and “Knots of Life” Cover Image

Polityczne jest prywatne. O przestrzeni publicznej i prywatnej w „Romansie Teresy Hennert”, „Granicy” i „Węzłach życia” Zofii Nałkowskiej
Political Is Private. On Private and Public Space in Zofia Nałkowska’s “The Love of Theresse Hennert,” “Borderline,” and “Knots of Life”

Author(s): Lucyna Marzec
Subject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: Instytut Badań Literackich Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Zofia Nałkowska; Nałkowska's "The Love of Theresse Hennert;" Nałkowska's "Borderline;" Nałkowska's " Knots of Life;" private and public space

Summary/Abstract: The article treats the relationships between the category of gender and space in Zofia Nałkowska’s selected works. The author is primarily interested in public space, however, in her view, Nałkowska regarded private space and intimate relationships as paradigmatic and most important for the existence of men and women in society. Accordingly, the author attempts to reading Nałkowska’s political novels as romance novels and suggests a political mode of reading for romance/women novels. Reconstruction of Nałkowska’s analyses of establishing power and characteristics of close, also intimate personal relationships leads to a conclusion that in the writer’s view, when resorting to an expressive and popular formula the private is not necessarily political; it is rather the reverse – the political is the private.

  • Issue Year: 2010
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 5-19
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Polish