Gynocritical Analysis of Dead Women by Anna Terék

Abstract

The gynocritical study of Anna Terék’s latest book of poems, Dead Women (2017) is an analysis based on the outline of a subcultural framework of feminine experience. The string of poems is narrated by women in times of war, sickness, adultery, cruelty and aggression. The poems are told by women from an unconventional perspective. The traumas of the characters are persistent and cannot be overcome in a lifetime, thus they are “dealt with” after their death. This way Terék touches upon a key element of feminist criticism, “the art of dying”. Suicide appears as a solution, as well as something natural and an act of free choice. Another topics that emerge in the poems are matrophobia, adultery, identity, patriarchal relations. Along with the intrinsic analysis of Terék’s poetry, the paper also touches upon the ideology and history of development of the female literary tradition, biological determinism and limitations of gynocriticism.