Chamber Music. On The Apology of the Female Spirit by Anita Kłos

The article discusses the study by Anita Kłos of the Italian author Sibilla Aleramo (1876–1960) and her links with the Polish literary culture in the first half of the 20th century. Apart from Aleramo, a poet, novelist, playwright and diarist, “a muse of countless artists”, “an emancipatory icon”, the book also presents Zofia Nałkowska, Stanisława (Soava) Gallone, Emilia Szenwicowa, Thérèse Koerner and Maria Poznańska. In fact, Kłos depicts two literary cultures: Italian and Polish, portrayed in detail ca. 1910 and 1930, in the context of the translations she analyzes. The monograph, written with a feminist slant, goes definitely beyond the narrow framework of a classic comparative case study: it reconstructs the two moments in the Italian and Polish literary life with impressive accuracy and it covers a wide range of topics related to both literatures and cultures.  

The article discusses the study by Anita Kłos of the Italian author Sibilla Aleramo (1876–1960) and her links with the Polish literary culture in the first half of the 20th century. Apart from Aleramo, a poet, novelist, playwright and diarist, “a muse of countless artists”, “an emancipatory icon”, the book also presents Zofia Nałkowska, Stanisława (Soava) Gallone, Emilia Szenwicowa, Thérèse Koerner and Maria Poznańska. In fact, Kłos depicts two literary cultures: Italian and Polish, portrayed in detail ca. 1910 and 1930, in the context of the translations she analyzes. The monograph, written with a feminist slant, goes definitely beyond the narrow framework of a classic comparative case study: it reconstructs the two moments in the Italian and Polish literary life with impressive accuracy and it covers a wide range of topics related to both literatures and cultures.