This article explores connections of newly discovered lesbian themes in three novels: Przygoda w nieznanym kraju [Adventure in an unknown country] by Aniela Gruszecka, Anetka by Maria Modrakowska and The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall. The article is organized in a way that makes it possible to highlight the similarities of motifs used in the texts, as well as deep thematic connections between Polish literary texts and the English novel. Although queer studies of the interwar period literature are not completely unexplored in the field of literary studies, these stories of non-heteronormative women have not yet been sufficiently touched upon. It was in that period that the Polish queer literature experienced a temporary flourishing - the analysis of the selected works of queer women’s depiction in modernist literature may show not only the continuity of the tradition of queer women’s writing in Poland, but also its linkage to the stream of European literature. The study’s aim is to dwell on the different representations of queer women outlined in these three literary works. While the first part of the article explores themes such as seclusion connected to queer childhood and unsuccessful attempts at forming relationships with women, the second part focuses on gothic motifs that play an important role in constructing the atmosphere of eeriness that surrounds the heroines.
The article contains a review of bell hooks’ Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (1984; Wydawnictwo Krytyki Politycznej, Warszawa 2013, second edition 2022). The text by the American scholar presents groundbreaking theses for the development of the Black feminism movement – she was one of the first to draw attention to the need to take into account various social determinants of violence against women. At the same time, it emphasizes the exclusionary and marginalizing assumptions of second-wave feminism that dominated in the mid-twentieth century. In my review, I reflect on the importance of republishing a theoretical book that examines the systemic violence faced by Black women in a patriarchal and white society. For me, it is important to ask about the relevance of hooks’ reflections and the role they play in thinking about feminism in contemporary capitalist society. I also reflect on the applicability of hooks’ theory in Polish feminism context.
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