Pociąg transosobowy. Wykolejone epifanie a queerowe zdarzenia w twórczości Mirona Białoszewskiego

Abstract

This article discusses the presence of railway epiphanies in the works of Miron Białoszewski, in particular their reference to queer events, understood as the presence of non-heteronormative meaning or desire. I examine the presence of trams, subways and railways in Białoszewski’s trips to Paris, Budapest and New York. Travelling by train can induce transgressive impulses and is often an occasion for expressing hidden tendencies, for instance homosexual behaviours. The experience of the train journey, which builds up weariness and drowsiness, can contribute to people experiencing a lack of boundaries and limits around them, with the consequence of everything becoming more confusing, obscure, and fluid. The movement of the train can cause a trance state, and due to the walking between the world of the conscious and subconscious mind, passengers evolve into “transpersons”, that is to say people “in the transition”, “on the way”, and “between”. Their gender becomes fluid, mobile, and “in motion”. This paper also analyses the figure of “derailed person” used by Artur Sandauer when comparing Białoszewski to Genet as a means of encoding homosexuality, here understood as a figure of the queer “derailment” of heteronormativity.

Keywords

• queer
• epiphany
• miron białoszewski
• railway
• trams