The Theme of Old Age in the Prose of Sylwia Chutnik

Abstract

The article is devoted to the images of old age in the prose of Sylwia Chutnik. This motif appears in her debut novel Kieszonkowy atlas kobiet. In the collection W krainie czarów, many stories feature elderly people who struggle with numerous problems of everyday existence, including the trauma of war memories. The title of the collection is a clear allusion to Lewis Carroll’s novel Alice in Wonderland. For Chutnik’s heroes, the eponymous wonderland is not a counter-empirical world but is located in the past. In the writer’s prose, interesting are the works in which we observe an intergenerational bond based on friendship, love, and empathy (Cwaniary, Tyłem do kierunku jazdy). Chutnik, as a writer involved in social issues, calls for appreciation of the elderly in public space. The writer also fights against the usual stereotypes about old age. An important voice in this discussion is the latest novel Tyłem do kierunku jazdy, which has a therapeutic dimension and encourages not only the elderly to be active, take action, or implement plans and dreams.