Between the centre and the periphery. The role of a letter in contemporary Polish literature created by women

Abstract

The article begins with a study of the state of the letter as a literary genre and a utilitarian form in contemporary Polish culture and literature. It seems that it is an ambiguous place, although the long tradition of the genre might prove its well - grounded and stable position among literary works. Theories of the letter look at it from different perspectives; however, the autonomous character of the letter is seen through the utilitarian aspect of the text, the text’s written form, its tone of directness, the absence of a correspondent, the broad relations between subject matter (the aim of the letter), sender and the sender’s attitude towards the addressee. The importance currently assigned to the utility of the texts and the effort to condense the content have significantly altered the genre, which, until quite recently, performed numerous roles, from the highly-artistic form of the message to everyday communication. The author attempts to determine the place of the letter in contemporary Polish literature written by women. She highlights the short, laconic forms incorporated into novels, which play a secondary role, as well as the widely cited autonomous fragments of stories and novels that have a much higher function. The article indicates the creative value of the letter in the world depicted and justifies the writers’ reluctance to use a different form of expression in direct statements, stylization, monologue, quasi letter, and messages directed to a nonpersonal receiver. Along with traditional letters, she describes the functions of a modern form of communication – the electronic mail – used in the latest novels.

Moreover, the article offers reflections on the femininity realized in the letters. For it seems that women writers often make use of the blessings of this form of statement to convey an intimate content and personal reflections.