Joseph Conrad, Ewa Kurylukand “The Places of Transition”: Transnational Modernism in Contemporary Polish Women’s Writing

This article aims to contribute to the ongoing discourse on revitalizing modernist sensibilities in contemporary literature and art. Through an analysis of the prose of Ewa Kuryluk, a Polish and Anglophone writer, I examine how her intertextual engagement with Joseph Conrad allows her to navigate her dual national and artistic identity. Kuryluk’s reinterpretation of Conrad’s literary imagery, such as his use of the sunset motif, exemplifies a modernist symmetrical subjectivity, which aligns with Richard Sheppard’s broader theoretical insights. This form of subjectivity, stretched between complementary yet contradictory poles, offers a transnational perspective on intertextual connections with modernism, taking into account the tension between center and periphery – both in terms of national literary traditions and the positioning of women’s writing within the literary canon.