The year is 1944. In Gołąbki near Warsaw, Stefania Mutter informs on two Polish women to the Nazis, which condemns the women to death. Half a century later, Stefania's granddaughter Danuta gives birth to Dzidzia (Baby). Dzidzia is a girl who is physically deformed and mentally handicapped.
Dzidzia is.. "history's revenge" and a source of worry. Maybe she'll become a saint in the local church? This is a shocking, controversial story about the Polish national character - its complexes and stupidity - which unfolds in a nightmarish atmosphere. And yet reviewers have gone deeper into the story to stop and ask: "What is the purpose of Dzidzia and what is she really?"
Agnieszka Wolny-Hamkało writes in the Polityka weekly (25 February 2010),
In fact Dzidzia is a broad symbol, in turn, of war trauma, a Polish mother exhausted by the patriarchal system, the hypocrisy of Polish Catholicism, and first and foremost - of Poland. And Poland is the main accused here, a Poland that is ill, poorly managed, traumatized, exploited. Like Dzidzia, it is treated as a saint or as a corpse. There's no question, this is a work written in anger, out of solidarity with all suffering mothers, against war, the notions of sin and punishment, the cold mechanics of the State. 'Add Poland to your newsletter. Give it a chance and you will have the opportunity to take part in a draw with magnificent prizes, such as, attention: getting the fuck out of here, damn it, and for ever …' Chutnik writes. 'Dzidzia' is a desperate appeal for a Poland that would finally shake free of the corpses, the guilt, and the punishment. Let things be normal.
Dariusz Nowacki of the Gazeta Wyborcza daily (16 February 2010) holds a different opinion, accusing Chutnik, for one, that the problem she tackles has overwhelmed her.
Confronting the official legend of Polish martyrdom with the private martyrdom of Polish mothers is a broad topic. It's too broad for Chutnik's literary competence. Secondly, in literature, bad temper spoils the complexion. Perhaps issues that touch the writer personally push her into desperation. Shouting and cursing is fine for a rally, in literature with 'belles' in its name it works very seldom. And definitely not this time.
Source: www.swiatksiazki.pl, press releases.
Sylwia Chutnik
Dzidzia
Wydawnictwo Świat Książki, Warszawa 2010
214 x 130, 176 pp., hard cover with dust jacket
ISBN-13: 978-83-247-1889-4
www.swiatksiazki.pl