Approaches Towards Shame in Contemporary Polish Literature

Abstract

This article focuses on literary approaches to the emotion of shame. My thesis is that literature can be perceived as a tool for overcoming feelings of shame, as it is capable of expressing even the most intimate human experiences in aesthetic terms, outside stereotypical moral judgments. From this perspective I discuss exhibitionistic tendencies on the author’s part and complementary voyeuristic impulses on the part of the reader. In this context I then consider the phenomenon of literary provocation and its function to then analyse two examples from Polish contemporary literature: Polka by M. Gretkowska – a literary journal of pregnancy – and Lovetown by M. Witkowski. Both, in my opinion, offer interesting aesthetic views on intimate but relevant aspects of everyday life.