Tożsamości problematyczne, tożsamości napiętnowane – na przykładzie Kajś. Opowieści o Górnym Śląsku Zbigniewa Rokity oraz Powrotu do Reims Didiera Eribona

Abstract

Identification with a stigmatized group is often associated with shame, fear and a sense of inferiority. An example of problematic identification is the sexuality, especially if it concerns non-heterosexual people. It may also be an origin – this means social status and a specific region whose inhabitants are marginalized or stigmatized or attachment to a specific nationality. Discovering or struggling with identities are the topics which occur frequently in autobiographical prose. The problem in this article is presented on the basis of two books: Returning to Reims by Didier Eribon and Kajś. Opowieść o Górnym Śląsku by Zbigniew Rokita. The main theme in both books is a gesture of denying their origins, which are stigmatized, as well as the motive of returning to the roots and trying to accept a repressed part of their identity. And although both books seem to have a little in common, despite differences such as social class, level of education or source of shame, the basic problem of the identity is the same. Moreover, both of them leave their hometowns to be able to cut themselves off from the past. After many years they realize that there is no escape from their origins.