Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
8
AGNIESZKAGAJEWSKA
myths.Throughcarefulreadingonecanbecomeincreasinglyconvinced
thatitisworthgatheringcouragetothinkdifferentlyfromothersinorder
nottorepeatthenecessaryaccordingtotheacademicstandardssetof
footnotes,toimagineotherhistorical,literaryandphilosophicalnarratives.
Asitiseasytostrayfromanarrowpathontothemaintract,itisperhaps
advisabletolookforafemaleguide.
Foroveracentury,theworksandbiographyofNarcyzaŻmichowska
havenotbeenincludedintheliterarycanon.FormanyscholarsŻmichowska
isonlytheauthorofPoganka(TheHeathen)whichismostlyinterpretedin
thecontextofasexscandal.1Herpassionatesearchforscientificfounda-
tionsofmorality;herdiscussionswithfriendsaboutthebooksofTaine,
Buckle,Darwin,Renan,Comte,Mill;herprogrammeofself-education
whichincludedgeography,physicsandchemistry;heradvocacyofthe
positivistmovementinthetimesoftheflourishingRomanticthoughtin
Polanddidnothavefollowersfordecades:
AtthattimeinPolandŻmichowskawasunique,almostmonstrous.Moreover,
shewastooself-sufcient,tooindependent,shedidnotknowhowtobecome
subservienttoanycamp.Forthewhiteshewasred,fortheredwhite;forsome
toomuchofapoet,forotherstoomuchofapositivist,amaleheadwithafe-
maleheartwhowasinadvanceofherepochinliterarytermsandwhooffered
concentratedthoughtinnewforms(Boy-Żeleński2007:15–16;trans.A.M.).
Thesemutuallyexclusivejuxtapositionsindicatetheaccusationswhich
areoftenlevelledagainsttheemancipationmovement:feministsaretoo
liberalandprogressive,toomuchengagedinleft-wingactivities;they
writeinanincomprehensibleway,confusehierarchiesandoverstepthe
boundariesofgenres,disciplinesanddecency.Asuffragetteisamon-
sterwhoconsistsofincompatibleparts,doesnotfittheframeworkandis
dangerous.Thiscomparison,usedbyBoy-Żeleńskiwithawell-meaning
distance,foregroundsthedangerwhichawaitsthoseaheadoftheirown
epoch:firsttheyarerejectedandthenforgotten.Themetaphorofthesi-
lenceofwomeninthepublicspherecanbeconfronted,tomymind,with
thevisionoftheculturewhichisdeaftothevoiceofwomen.Thosecare-
fullyattendedtoandconsideredseriousdiscussantsarenottheoneswith
unconventionalideasandknowledge,buttheonessupportedbypower,
authority,positionsorinstitutions.Themisogynistrepositorycontainsnu-
1FormoredetailsaboutthereductionofŻmichowska’sworkstoonetextwhich,as
amatteroffact,hardlyreferstoherliteraryprogramme,seeRitz2005:44–59.
©CopyrightbyUniwersytetJagielloński