KOBIECOŚĆ: TOŻSAMOŚĆ, TRAUMA I POZNANIE W TERRACOTTA OVENS OF MY CHILDHOOD ELITE OLSHTAIN
Womanhood: Identity, Trauma and Learning in “Terracotta Ovens of My Childhood” by Elite Olshtain

Author(s): Dana Radler
Subject(s): Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Czernowitz; memory; gender; identity; trauma
Summary/Abstract: Shadows, violence and family bonding shape Elite Olshtain’s memoir (2010) as key ingredients of a genuine life testimony. The vision of herself as a child before and during World War II mixeswith the voice of a mature memoirist. How then do violence and politics obstruct the expressionof identity for the key feminine protagonists: young Litika, her mother, Frieda, and Sabina, thematernal grandmother? And how do secondary characters contribute to this story? Can one’s learning actually frame existence beyond survival? This paper explores gender and trauma as deeply rooted in painful yet meaningful recovery of a personalised past.

• Details
• Contents