The Autobiographical in Women’s Writing: Redefinitions

Abstract

Polish literary scholars have long examined the autobiographical dimensions of women’s writing from a variety of perspectives. In light of recent theoretical developments, however, this category invites renewed consideration. New interpretive tools allow for the redefinition and deconstruction of traditional autobiographical practices grounded in the autobiographical pact with the reader. The novels of Maria Ukniewska, Zyta Oryszyn, Magdalena Tulli, and Joanna Bator, analyzed here as case studies, extend the theoretical framework of the autobiographical by embedding it within the contexts of personal and generational experiences, the representation of space, and formal experimentation. Although these novels articulate the “self” in diverse ways, they converge around female subjectivity—often shaped by external conditions—and suggest that an autobiographical reading need not depend on the authorial signature. Instead, it may be understood as a mode of reading that opens a communal space of interpretation and shared experiences.