Reflecting on Human Condition: Liberation in Poetic Works with the Motive of Walled-Up Woman

• In Event: Tales, Narratives, and Myths between Oppression and Liberation: The Case of the Walled-Up Woman in the Balkans and Beyond

Abstract

There exists a long and multifaceted tradition of using or referring to the motive of the walled-up woman in the Balkans. As a rule, this artistic activity was and continues to be dominated by politically driven narratives and interpretations, especially evolving around the origin of the song about the walled-up woman. This is not the case in the contemporary poetic works. In this context worthy of attention appears the omission of the Mrnjavčević medieval family, while other heroes and motives are treated more closely. Poetry in this paper is perceived as liberating in two ways: as a specific space of literary expression, and as a practice. Few examples of such poetic expression will be analysed, while using an analytical dichotomy: liberation of the topos of the walled-up woman from the domination of national narratives, and poetry as a tool of facing and liberating from everyday constraints.

Author

• Marzena Maciulewicz, Institute of Slavic Studies, PAS (Poland)