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M.Krzykawski,Z.Szatanik:GenderStudiesł
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AliceLeTrionnaire-Bolterauer’s“L’imagedela‘belleGitane’danslalit-
tératureromantiqueallemandeetfrançaise”focusesonthefigureoftheOther
embodiedbythecharacterofabeautifulgypsywomaninthetextsbyMérimée,
Hugo,Brentano,andvonArnim.Theauthorshowsthisrepresentationasacon-
structofaEurocentric,masculinemindwhichallowstheRomanticauthorsto
projecttheirdreamsandfearsontheexoticwoman.Fascinatingandterrifying,
thebeautifulgypsyisanepitomeoffemmefatale.
ThelastarticleinthecollectionisMagdalenaCebula’s“‘Lemythedusu-
permâle’:entrelaFranceetleMaghrebdansLaviesexuelled)unislamisteà
ParisdeLeïlaMarouane.”ThepaperisdevotedtoMarouane’snovel,inwhich
Maghreb’ssexualcodeisconfrontedwithrepresentationsofmasculinityinthe
discoursesoftheWest.Theprotagonist,strugglingwithhisidentity,searches1
invain1foreternalmasculinity.
Thearticlescollectedhereapproachgenderedconstructionsdifferently.
Theory-centeredpapers,discussinggenderinsocialandinstitutionalcontexts,
areaccompaniedbyliteraryanalysesmainlyfocusedondifferentwaysofshap-
ingandtransgressinggenderedidentities.Theyallshowthatgenderstudies,
notwithstandingthelossofitsmomentumasadistinctfieldofresearchwithin
theAmericanacademia,stillofferawiderangeofstimulatingtoolsinliterary
andculturalstudies3.
3InSeptember2012,whenwewereperfectingourCFPforthepresentvolume,wecould
nothavehadanyideathattheterm“gender”wouldsoonmakeanastonishing“career”inthe
Polishpublicdiscourse.Atthattime,thewordwashardlyeverusedoutsideofacademe,and
withinacademe,itseemedasafeenoughconceptwhichhadlonglostitsairofcontroversy.We
were,therefore,quitedisorientedwheninthelastmonthsof2013,thePolishCatholicchurch,
togetherwithsomeofthemostardentrepresentativesofthepoliticalRight,startedtoreferto
“genderideology”whoseaimwastodestroy“thefamily”throughthe“promotion”ofhomo-
sexuality,abortion,and“thecultureofdeath.”Nowthatthiscollectionisabouttobepublished,
anewParliamentaryCommittee“StopGenderIdeology”hasalreadystartedtracking“gender”
downinallareasofthepublicsphere,andhardlyadaygoesbywithoutapoliticianorjournalist
producingnew“facts”aboutgender.
Admittedly,thedifferencebetweentheacademicdiscourseofgender1whichthisbook
represents1andtheonewhichfertilizesthepoliticalshowisquitelarge.Wehavemadethe
decisiontoavoidmuckingaroundthepoolofcynicismandbadfaithwhichpermeatesthepresent
debate.Wedobelievewehaveotherfishtofryratherthaninvolveinthemediaoverkillwhich
keepsdescendingintomadness.Atthesametime,wedorealizethatgenderhasalwayshad
apoliticaldimensionandwearestillwillingtoassumeit,eventhoughithasbecomemorediffi-
cultthesedays,whenthetermhasbeenappropriatedbyfar-rightpoliticians.
