„PRZEKROCZENIE STAŁO SIĘ FAKTEM”. W STRONĘ (PÓŁ)PERYFERYJNEJ TEORII ODMIENNOŚCI / QUEER
“Transgression Has Become a Fact”. Towards a Semi-peripheral Queer Theory

Author(s): Błażej Warkocki
Subject(s): Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010)
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Polish literature; Eastern Europe; queer theory; Maria Janion; Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
Summary/Abstract: In this article, I trace the genealogy of the Polish discourse on “otherness”/queerness as a distinct intellectual tradition. To do so, I draw on and connect two key cultural phenomena. First, I examine the interwar discussions on homosexuality in literature and society, particularly those surrounding the works of Witold Gombrowicz. Second, I consider the series of "Transgresje" ["Transgressions"] anthologies from the 1980s, edited by Maria Janion and her collaborators, with particular focus on the 1982 volume "Odmieńcy" ["Outsiders"]. I argue that these two cultural phenomena are linked by their references to Gothic aesthetics. To explore the queer implications of this connection, I juxtapose two approaches to the Gothic: that of Maria Janion and that of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick.

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