Antynomie męskości i erotyczne spojrzenie na męskie ciało w "Agnieszce, córce Kolumba" Wilhelma Macha

Abstract

Although Wilhelm Mach’s novel Agnieszka, córka Kolumna (1964) was considered avant-garde, controversial, and provoking in the sixties, it remains today – as Mach’s whole output – forgotten. This article is an attempt at “close reading” of this problematic and partially incoherent novel by Mach: the writer’s ambition was to write a “gendered” avant-garde novel, where the “masculine” and “wide” epic dimension is balanced by the “feminine” dimension (focus on emotions and details, mindfulness, erotisation of the masculine body in a female’s gaze). I argue that Mach’s project failed, but I also highlight its unique and still underestimated position in the history of Polish literature.