Druga płeć awangardy? O książce Płeć awangardy

The book Płeć awangardy [Gender of the Avant-Garde] is the first attempt of this kind at a comprehensive, gender-oriented presentation of the avant-garde tradition in Polish literary studies. The review of the volume starts with an outline of its place in the worldwide humanities, especially in the face of the increasingly dynamic development of women’s studies on the avant-garde. Individual texts are slightly different from the editorial introduction and its assumptions: a materialistic attempt to reclaim and reestablish feminism in the heart of the avant-garde. Thus, they are presented as a result of a meeting of several methodological schools with clear patronages at the University of Silesia: art historians, literary historians, literary critics, representatives of men’s studies, women’s studies, feminism and gender studies. Despite the political background of many of them, connected with avant-garde ideas of social and aesthetic emancipation, it is easy to see how far their dictionaries have diverged from each other and how difficult it is now to meet and establish a common understanding of basic concepts such as avant-garde, sex/gender or even political engagement.