Przestrzenie starości w najnowszej polskiej prozie realistycznej
Old Age Spaces in the Newest Polish Realistic Prose

Summary/Abstract: Old age, marginalized in popular culture due to the cult of youth and consumerism, is appearingin the latest realistic prose of the younger generation (in the works of Sylwia Chutnik, Barbara Klicka,Maria Karpińska, Ignacy Karpowicz, and Zyta Rudzka). In this article, based on Barbara Klicka’sZdrój (2019) and Zyta Rudzka’s Ślicznotka doktora Josepha (2006), two spaces stereotypically associatedwith seniors – the sanatorium and the retirement home – are analyzed. In Zdrój, seniors enjoy life,and the treatments they receive serve both health and entertainment purposes; their stay is temporary.In Ślicznotka doktora Josepha, old age is depicted in a drastic light – the abandoned characters spendthe rest of their lives in a retirement home, reminiscing about their lost youth; Rudzka breaks a tabooby describing the physiological process of aging. Zdrój is set in Ciechocinek, while in Rudzka’s novel,the lack of topographical landmarks makes the retirement home a metaphor for social exclusion.

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