14 Facts About Maria Janion

Maria Janion was a Polish scholar, literary theorist and critic, as well as a feminist.

Maria Janion was a professor at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, specialising in literary Romanticism.

Maria Janion was born on 24 December 1926 in Monki, Second Polish Republic, to father Cyprian Janion and mother Ludwika.

Maria Janion was a member of the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association, which was affiliated with the Home Army, and worked as a liaison officer.

Maria Janion's lectures placed emphasis on revolutionary and libertarian aspects of Romanticism which did not adhere to the official and generally accepted interpretation of the literary canon and encouraged her students to adopt a bold, defiant and original perspective on Polish literature.

In 1970 Maria Janion joined secret societies aimed against communism in Poland.

Maria Janion was one of the founders of an independent Society of Study Courses.

Maria Janion became more critical of the imposed views and values in regards to Polish literature, both classical and contemporary, and to Polish views on war, soldiers, heroism, military uprisings and martyrdom.

Maria Janion called for the huge national movement, which was so far mainly driven by passion, to be turned into an intellectual effort.

Maria Janion died at the age of 93 in Warsaw on 23 August, 2020.

Maria Janion stressed that in Romanticism with time there is increasing importance of a sense of the absurd and grotesque with regard to existence, expressed in irony and melancholy.

Maria Janion introduced the idea of the "subconscious human" expressing previously hidden and repressed thoughts even though there still remained various spheres of suppression.

Maria Janion publicly came out as a lesbian in book entitled.

Maria Janion actively promoted feminism in Poland and was known for her criticism of racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and misogyny.