Obraz polskiej tożsamości w literaturze najmłodszej po 1989 roku (próba opisu z perspektywy postkolonialnej)

Abstract

The starting point of the article is the assumption that the interpretation of the postcolonial theory in post-1989 Poland is exceptional, very different from the one dominant in the West. The specificity of “the Polish postcolonial model” consists in that it combines both a sense of superiority towards our Eastern neighbours and a sense of inferiority towards Western cultures. This duality offers an interesting framework for the interpretation of works by writers who made their debut in post-communist Poland. The novel Lubiewo by Michał Witkowski potrays the gay culture in the Polish People’s Republic (PRL), idealizing it and using clichés taken from adventure novels. In Piotr Czerski’s Ojciec odchodzi (Father Is Leaving) we find a description of the state of Polish Catholicism which is superficial and offers nothing to counterbalance the Western ideology. Dominika Ożarowska’s debut Nie uderzy żaden piorun (No Thunder Will Strike) presents a generation growing in the Polish People’s Republic (PRL), who, coming of age, declare the lack of ideological values and refuse to engage in anything. In the works by Witkowski and Czerski the world is shown from the post-1989 perspective, while Ożarowska’s book is an interesting attempt to go beyond time limitations.