Access paths. On popular women’s prose and criticism

Abstract

Referring to critical statements which have appeared during the last few years, the author discusses the ways of commenting on popular women’s prose. One may distinguish five types of comments, the first of which – 'Annexation' ('Aneksja') is employed when a popular novel is included in the socially important literature, which – by and large in the intervention mode – refers to pressing and alarming problems (e.g. domestic violence). In turn, from the formal and genre viewpoint, we may speak about a kind of transfer in which the women’s prose moves from its parent context to the so-called prose of the centre. The second type of context – 'Play with convention' ('Gra z konwencją') is based on tracking down both grotesque and ironic elements and – above all – metaliterary signals in popular novels. The findings allow us to accept the thesis on the double addressee of a book and they are the basis for the ‘advance’ of a trivial work. The third type – 'Following the tradition' ('Zgodnie z tradycją') is best represented in the literature on the subject. On the one hand, we are dealing here with a poethologic approach (structural analyses) which has been established in the research tradition, on the other – with approaches inspired by feminist criticism (exposing that popular narrations are in fact ideological statements). The fourth type – 'It is good to listen raptly' ('Dobrze się wsłuchać') focuses on the approaches suggested by other fields, e.g. how popular women’s prose is read by sociologists and culture experts. Finally, the fifth type – 'Emotions and excess' ('Emocje i zbytek') has been based on emotional-therapeutic research on the perception styles of popular prose. In this case, one focuses not on a popular love story, but on the way it influences a reader’s emotions.