"Ameryka, wielogłowa hydra" : wokół "Dziennika amerykańskiego" Julii Hartwig

Abstract

The author juxtaposes Julia Hartwig’s Dziennik amerykański (“American Journal”) and her Wiersze amerykańskie (“American Poems”) — two works based on the poet’s several visits to the United States. The portrayal of America that emerges from this double view is multifaceted as well as characterized by a measure of detachment. While Hartwig notes the variousness of the New World, she does not avoid being critical — for example, her comments on American women are quite scathing. A reading of Dziennik amerykański and her American texts reveals Hartwig’s various strategies of coming to terms with her American experience, which, according to Monika Ładoń, include: mitigating the sense of alienation, challenging clichés, escape into metaphorical thinking, or immersing oneself in American literature.