‘Now, I think, but actually not’
Barbara Klicka’s Zdrój as an Illness Narrative Cover Image

„Teraz, myślę, ale wcale nie” Zdrój Barbary Klickiej jako narracja maladyczna
‘Now, I think, but actually not’ Barbara Klicka’s Zdrój as an Illness Narrative

Author(s): Dominika Kotuła
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warmińsko-Mazurskiego w Olsztynie
Keywords: experience of illness; body; illness narrative; liminality

Summary/Abstract: This article presents Barbara Klicka’s novel Zdrój as an example of an illness narrative.The novel is discussed in the context of both other examples of the genre and the theoretical worksdevoted to the topic. The fact she is experiencing illness determines the protagonist’s existence andher perception of the world. It influences her emotions. As a hypersensitive individual, she is ableto recognise the mechanisms of oppression embedded in the process of treatment, such as the objectificationof patients. The narrator’s status is peculiar – she is not losing the battle with her illness,neither is she recovering. She is a “wounded storyteller,” remaining in a liminal state. Illness is oneof the essential elements of the protagonist’s identity, and not simply the theme of her story butrather a condition without which the story would not exist.

  • Issue Year: 2020
  • Issue No: 8
  • Page Range: 101-113
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Polish