Bloomsbury Polish, Hybrid, and Otherwise: Exilic Discourse in Joseph Conrad and Witold Gombrowicz

Examines the ways in which language, identity, and a sense of cultural belonging intersect in Conrad s and Gombrowicz s novels and other writings. Review "Polish, Hybrid, and Otherwise is a timely and much needed contribution to twentieth-century comparative studies. One of book's main strengths lies in its erudition and its ambitious scope, as the project brings together literatures that have been rarely studied together: it situates Slavic literatures in the broader comparative context of Anglophone, Francophone and postcolonial studies. Its second strength lies in the bold thesis that proposes the literature of exile and contact as the dominant paradigm of twentieth-century literature. What distinguishes this project from other studies of exile is the fact that it is not limited to the study of content alone but elaborates an original heterotopic poetics of exile, its hybrid narrative forms, intertextual strategies, as well as its ethical/political importance." Ewa Plonowska Ziarek, Julian Park Professor of Comparative Literature, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, USA."Skillful and sophisticated, this comparative study challenges the customary readings of Joseph Conrad and Witold Gombrowicz. These two major representatives of modernity and postmodernity are usually perceived within the paradigm of emigre writers seeking acceptance as narrators of tales in a new milieu. Gasyna argues that the two writers created for themselves hybrid identities in language, thus proclaiming their autonomy from their country of origin and from their new homelands. He posits that they are masters of language rather than tellers of tales. Gasyna's bold theorizing is quintessentially postmodern and stimulating." Ewa Thompson, Research Professor of Slavic Studies, Rice University, USA About the Author George Gasyna is Assistant Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and the Program in Comparative and World Literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. He specializes in Polish literature, in particular twentieth-century prose and drama, as well as exilic literature and the avant-garde.