Emancypantki, studentki i wyzwolone – o „kobiecych” powieściach Artura Gruszeckiego

Abstract

Słomiany ogień (A Flash in the Pan) and U źródła wiedzy (At the Source of Knowledge) are the only works by Artur Gruszecki that address the issue of women’s role in the society. Neither of them has been critically analysed as yet – Halina Tchórzewska-Kabata did not include them in her research. And yet, these two novels reveal the writer’s shrewd grasp of the contemporary reality. Written at the beginning of the twentieth century, both novels contain criticism of women’s feminist aspirations, but each does so from a different perspective. A Flash in the Pan, set in Cracow, is a straightforward satire of women’s emancipation. The author’s initial serious attention to women’s demands of social and political equality, right to maternity leave and full access to education, gives way to descriptions of bickering and gossip that lead to a complete disintegration of the city’s feminist clubs. At the Source of Knowledge revolves around the topic of higher education for girls. The author depicts the twists and turns of the lives of three young heroines, exposes the feeble motivation behind their scholarly aspirations, and sadly concludes that they are not adequately prepared to undertake university studies. Although Gruszecki’s novels were written in the twentieth century, they seem to be a direct continuation of the critical approach to emancipation movement that we can observe in works of other nineteenth century authors like Prus (Emancypantki, The Suffragists) and Gomulicki (Wyzwolona, The Liberated).