My Warszawa by Joyce Carol Oates
"My Warszawa" by Joyce Carol Oates is a poignant narrative exploring the psychological unraveling of Judith Horne, a successful writer, during her week in Poland. The story delves into Judith's deepening self-doubt and alienation as she navigates the complexities of being an American in a Soviet-bloc country. As she grapples with her Jewish heritage, she becomes increasingly aware of the legacy of anti-Semitism and the historical context of Poland, which is characterized by its tragic past.
Judith’s experiences in Warsaw, marked by cultural disorientation and language barriers, exacerbate her feelings of insecurity and vulnerability. Key moments in the story, such as her visit to Gezia Cemetery and a confrontation with a Polish journalist, highlight her internal conflict and emotional turmoil. Judith oscillates between feelings of guilt and victimhood, which complicate her relationship with her partner, Carl, as she struggles with her need for control amidst her self-loathing. The narrative captures the tension of her psyche and ultimately reflects on the fragility of identity and connection in the face of historical trauma.
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My Warszawa by Joyce Carol Oates
First published: 1981
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: 1980
Locale: Warsaw, Poland, at the First International Conference on American Culture
Principal Characters:
Judith Horne , the protagonist, a distinguished American culture critic between her late thirties and early fortiesCarl Walser , her longtime lover and traveling companion, a successful journalistRobert Sargent , an American poet attending the same conference
The Story
"My Warszawa" is the story of a successful writer's progressive loss of self-control and self-confidence during a week spent in Poland. Early in the narrative, Joyce Carol Oates gives an account of the kind of gossip Judith Horne's celebrity has generated but then shifts the point of view to her protagonist's own self-doubts. Apparently, public curiosity about her ethnic background and essential femininity has already fueled Judith's "morbidly sensitive consciousness," and this "hyperesthesia" will be further aggravated by the experience of being an American traveling in a Soviet-bloc country.
The story is structured around a series of incidents that mark Judith Horne's growing sense of alienation and awareness of her Jewish roots. As a foreigner in Warsaw, she is particularly disoriented by ignorance of the Polish language ("not a word, not a phrase is familiar"), by the annoying haze of smoke that fills every meeting room and restaurant, and by her inability to make sense of the relationship between Poland's past and its present. Judith and her colleagues often describe Poland as a tragic country, an occupied country that is the victim of Soviet oppression. However, Judith, almost despite herself, keeps uncovering evidence of hypocrisy and anti-Semitism and cannot help remembering that there was a pogrom in Warsaw in 1946. At first, she feels guilty "for her freedom, her American spirit," the passport that allows her to travel anywhere. Later, she identifies herself as a victim who would have been despised and denied basic liberties had she lived in Poland "back then."
Two incidents in particular trigger Judith's emotional identification of herself as a Jew. A visit to Gezia Cemetery affects her profoundly, as she notes the row on row of graves marking the deaths of "fortunate" Jews who "were buried in their own soil" having died of "natural" causes. Toward the end of her stay, Judith confronts Marta, an interviewer, about her religious conversion; though Marta's features are clearly Jewish, she wears a small gold cross around her neck. Marta defends herself against Judith's implied accusation by dissociating her wealthy family from those "other Jews." "You see, Miss Horne," she explains, "they were very slow—very ignorant—filled with superstitions—lazy. . . . They could have saved themselves. . . . But they did not try." Judith repeats this formula ("They didn't try") in utter disbelief at what she is hearing; then, after a "long, uneasy pause," she slaps the cigarette from Marta's fingers and leaves the room.
The depth of feeling aroused in Judith by these and other encounters takes its toll on her sense of self and her relationship with her lover, Carl. It is as if she has regressed to an adolescent stage marked by extreme mood swings and self-loathing. Her need to be in control constantly wars with her vulnerability and need to be loved. One moment, she accuses Carl of not loving her enough; the next, she is childishly screaming that she hates him and wishes that he were dead. Despite his evident understanding of her situation and his attempts to appease what he refers to as the "adversary" in her, the story ends (as it began) with them bickering even as their plane takes off for the return home.
Bibliography
Bender, Eileen Teper. Joyce Carol Oates: Artist in Residence. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987.
Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Views: Joyce Carol Oates. New York: Chelsea House, 1987.
Cologne-Brookes, Gavin. Dark Eyes on America: The Novels of Joyce Carol Oates. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2005.
Creighton, Joanne V. Joyce Carol Oates: Novels of the Middle Years. New York: Twayne, 1992.
Daly, Brenda O. Lavish Self-Divisions: The Novels of Joyce Carol Oates. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1996.
Johnson, Greg. Invisible Writer: A Biography of Joyce Carol Oates. New York: Dutton, 1998.
Johnson, Greg. Understanding Joyce Carol Oates. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1987.
Wagner-Martin, Linda, ed. Critical Essays on Joyce Carol Oates. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1979.