Womens Voices and Feminism in Polish Cultural Memory

Every time a so-called woman's voice appears in the media in connection with any sphere of creative activity, it finds itself confronted by the almost formulaic expression feminism today, instantaneously suggesting that feminism is, in fact, a matter of the past, and that if we want to return to this phenomenon, then we need to explain ourselves. Women's Voices and Feminism...seeks to elaborate the problem of generalization, expressed by such formulas as feminism today, while analysing how feminist sympathies have shaped Polish literature, film and language. This volume does not want to impose any hegemonic understanding of feminism, or imply any a priori ideological assumptions about women's nature or role in society. It seeks to identify what is particular in Polish feminist experience. It starts by asking such questions as what is feminism today? or what can we learn from the history of Polish women's writing? In answering these questions, the women scholars included in the volume examine Polish cultural history and memory in the context of the transformations, transitions and catastrophes of the last two centuries, whilst firmly rooting Polish experience within the common European heritage.