Rzecz prywatna, rzecz sekretna. O granicach intymności w korespondencji Marii Dąbrowskiej i Anny Kowalskiej z lat 1946-1948

• Authors: Ewa Głębicka

Title variants

EN

A private matter, a secret matter. About the boundaries of intimacy in the correspondence between Maria Dąbrowska and Anna Kowalska in 1946-1948

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The article about unstable boundaries of intimacy in the correspondence between Maria Dąbrowska and Anna Kowalska was based on 600 of both wrriters letters from 1946 to 1948. It was the most difficult time of their secret relationship with its most dramatic moments: being Anna’s pregnancy which was hard to accept by Dąbrowska, the birth of the child, and the period soon after the death of Jerzy Kowalski. These events were accompanied by intensive and impetuous correspondence, which proves how difficult this love was, marked, on the one hand, by a conviction to its right of existence, and on the other, by misunderstanding, humiliation, and the struggle for one’s own freedom to make life choices independent of friend’s will. The letters became the only way of communication between both womem for a longer period of time, which was necessary but unreliable and insufficient to name what’s “inexpressible”. Written words replaced closed contact but also hurt and deceived, without expressing the truth about this difficult relationship. The tone of their correspondence sometimes resembles a battlefield, and later careful peace negotiations and compromises, which were exceptionally difficult when one party demanded exclusivity, whereas the other – set boundaries and expected them to be respected. The letters read along with the writers’ journals present ambiguity and complexity of the relationship between two friends, entangled in a relationship which brought them both happiness and bitterness as well. The author highlights also the difficulties connected with the planned publication of this correspondence. The entire set of letters of the years from 1940 to 1965 counts 1353 multi-page letters written by Dąbrowska and 990 letters written by Kowalska (often not dated). Taking into account the size of this set of letters (what makes it impossible to publish as a whole) and also the character of the correspondence, the author suggests to publish a representative set of letters, most extensively selected.

Keywords

PL

Maria Dąbrowska – korespondencja; Anna Kowalska – korespondencja; epistolografia ‒ XX wiek

EN

Maria Dąbrowska – correspondence; Anna Kowalska – correspondence; epistolography – 20 th century

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Warszawski / Instytut Badań Literackich PAN
• Journal: Napis. Pismo poświęcone literaturze okolicznościowej i użytkowej
• Year: 2017
• Volume: 23: List jako szczególny gatunek literacki
• Pages: 155-180

Contributors

author

Ewa Głębicka

• Instytut Badań Literackich PAN, Warszawa