Figurations of Attachment in Sylvia Plath and Halina Poświatowska

The paper addresses the question of attachment to places and the modes of its reflection in the “periautobiographical” (James Olney’s term) texts of Sylvia Plath and Halina Poświatowska. For these two women writers the change of the place of living (from America to England in the case of Plath, and...

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Main Author: Agnieszka Pantuchowicz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Association for American Studies 2019-01-01
Series:European Journal of American Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/13552
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author Agnieszka Pantuchowicz
author_facet Agnieszka Pantuchowicz
author_sort Agnieszka Pantuchowicz
collection DOAJ
description The paper addresses the question of attachment to places and the modes of its reflection in the “periautobiographical” (James Olney’s term) texts of Sylvia Plath and Halina Poświatowska. For these two women writers the change of the place of living (from America to England in the case of Plath, and from Poland to America in the case of Halina Poświatowska) was a significant event which can be read as a history in which the topographical change becomes crucial for the construction of autobiographical memory. This memory, partly constituted by the play of attachments and detachments, is also crucial for the understanding of the role of the ideas of home and homeland seen as a refigured space of attachment in which the idea friendship and its various bonds are links with what is close to oneself, even if this closeness is felt as unwelcome and troublesome.
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spelling doaj-art-b2ec60833e1d472685fbaa31798fbb3c2025-01-06T09:08:53ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362019-01-0113310.4000/ejas.13552Figurations of Attachment in Sylvia Plath and Halina PoświatowskaAgnieszka PantuchowiczThe paper addresses the question of attachment to places and the modes of its reflection in the “periautobiographical” (James Olney’s term) texts of Sylvia Plath and Halina Poświatowska. For these two women writers the change of the place of living (from America to England in the case of Plath, and from Poland to America in the case of Halina Poświatowska) was a significant event which can be read as a history in which the topographical change becomes crucial for the construction of autobiographical memory. This memory, partly constituted by the play of attachments and detachments, is also crucial for the understanding of the role of the ideas of home and homeland seen as a refigured space of attachment in which the idea friendship and its various bonds are links with what is close to oneself, even if this closeness is felt as unwelcome and troublesome.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/13552autobiographySylvia PlathHalina Poświatowskaattachmentfriendship
spellingShingle Agnieszka Pantuchowicz
Figurations of Attachment in Sylvia Plath and Halina Poświatowska
European Journal of American Studies
autobiography
Sylvia Plath
Halina Poświatowska
attachment
friendship
title Figurations of Attachment in Sylvia Plath and Halina Poświatowska
title_full Figurations of Attachment in Sylvia Plath and Halina Poświatowska
title_fullStr Figurations of Attachment in Sylvia Plath and Halina Poświatowska
title_full_unstemmed Figurations of Attachment in Sylvia Plath and Halina Poświatowska
title_short Figurations of Attachment in Sylvia Plath and Halina Poświatowska
title_sort figurations of attachment in sylvia plath and halina poswiatowska
topic autobiography
Sylvia Plath
Halina Poświatowska
attachment
friendship
url https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/13552
work_keys_str_mv AT agnieszkapantuchowicz figurationsofattachmentinsylviaplathandhalinaposwiatowska