Jack J. Hutchens

This dissertation analyzes various transgressions of national and gender identities in works of twentieth-century Polish fiction. A historical-literary analysis of such transgressions is necessarily directly tied to the various ideological shifts that took place in Poland. Polish citizens that claim for themselves alternative sexual or national identities had to negotiate their existences according to the various "isms" that held sway throughout the past century. Instead of accepting the notion that identity is an always-already bounded structure, scholars have pointed out its actual permeability, especially in the areas of gender and national identity. This analysis illustrates the intersection between gender and nation in works by various Polish authors.