“Sense of Participation.” Communities, Alliances of the Vulnerable and the Subservient in Halina Poświatowska’s Poetry

Abstract

Using Michael Rothberg’s concept of the multidirectional memory, the author of this article proves that in Halina Poświatowska’s poetry memory of the Shoah is activated in confrontation with media images of the Vietnam War. In the poems, the memory of various genocides is dynamic, because of which such phenomena as competitiveness, rivalry, or dominance of forms of commemorating chosen mass crimes give way to the rule of consolidation of memory. The author also investigates the feminist motifs and observes the convergence between the forms of resistance presented by Poświatowska and the concepts of revolt discussed by Judith Butler (grievability, vulnerability). The involvement of the poet in matters contemporary to her is – next to the contemplation of the fragile body – the most important theme of her poetry, which has not been noted by the critics, who accused her of escapism, egotism, imitativeness, and infantilism.