How Did Polish Literature Come Out of the Closet: Homosexuality in Polish Literature at the Turn of the 20th and 21st Century

Garibović, Kristina. (2018). How Did Polish Literature Come Out of the Closet: Homosexuality in Polish Literature at the Turn of the 20th and 21st Century. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of West Slavic Languages and Literature. [mentor Čilić Škeljo, Đurđica].

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Abstract

Polish homosexual literature can be divided into pre-emancipation and emancipation period. In the pre-emancipation period it was not possible to write about homosexuality in an open way, so writers left it unsaid or coded it in their works. Studies have shown that it was actually homosexuality that was thematised in some of the biggest Polish classics. That were the works of Iwaszkiewicz, Andrzejewski, Gombrowicz, Breza, Mach, etc. Works on female homosexuality were rare and women who loved other women preferred to write about it in their diaries. Towards the end of the 20th century the emancipation period, in which homosexuality was openly thematised, began. The change was gradual and took place in three phases. The milestone in Polish literature was the publication of Lubiewo by Michał Witkowski. After that, gay and lesbian works, in which homosexuality is considered normal and in which characters adopt their sexuality, have begun to be published.

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