E.E. (novel)

E.E. is a psychological novel{{Cite journal |last=Kantner |first=Katarzyna |date=2015 |title=Podmiotowość "mediumiczna". "E.E." Olgi Tokarczuk jako powieść psychologiczna |journal=Ruch Literacki |publisher=PAN, Uniwersytet Jagielloński |volume=XVI |issue=1 |issn=0035-9602}}{{Rp|page=48}} with an omniscient narrator,{{Cite journal |last=Helbig-Mischewski |first=Brigitta |date=1998 |title=Histeria historii i historia histerii. Jeszcze raz o "Absolutnej Amnezji" Izabeli Filipiak i "E.E." Olgi Tokarczuk |journal=Dykcja |issue=9/10}}{{Rp|page=55}} set in Wrocław at the beginning of the 20th century.{{Cite book |last=Chowaniec |first=Urszula |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/925280355 |title=Melancholic migrating bodies in contemporary Polish women's writing |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-8492-1 |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |oclc=925280355}}{{Rp|page=55}} The main character is Erna Eltzer, the eponymous E.E.,{{Rp|page=55}} who belongs to the Polish-German bourgeoisie.{{Cite web |title=Książki z Wrocławiem w tle. W sam raz na Dzień Książki! |url=https://wroclaw.wyborcza.pl/wroclaw/56,35771,11596885,Ksiazki_z_Wroclawiem_w_tle__W_sam_raz_na_Dzien_Ksiazki_,,3.html |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=wroclaw.wyborcza.pl |language=pl}}{{Rp|page=57}} The novel tells the story of Erna undergoing puberty,{{Rp|page=69}} when she suddenly gains paranormal skills.{{Rp|page=57}} Thanks to her new abilities, she begins to be perceived as someone special compared to her siblings, which helps her gain the interest of her mother,{{Rp|page=58}} who is everything to her.{{Rp|page=57}} Erna's mother, an unfulfilled actress who does not enjoy being a housewife,{{Rp|page=57}} uses her daughter as a medium to attract attention in her milieu.{{Rp|page=57}}{{Rp|page=183}} With the interest generated by her psychic abilities, Erna loses her agency{{Rp|page=184}}{{Rp|page=58}} and turns into a medical case under the alias "E.E.", an object of doctors' examinations.{{Rp|page=58}} Her only means of escaping the situation are walks in the park and contact with nature.{{Rp|page=184}}

The novel was based on elements of Carl Jung's doctoral dissertation entitled On the Psychology and Pathology of So-Called Occult Phenomena. Characterization of the heroine of E.E. alludes to a patient called "S.W.", while the plot of the novel draws elements of the dissertation. Jung's scientific distance to the object of his study is noticeable in the notes of one of the novel's characters, the young psychoanalyst Artur Schatzmann,{{Rp|page=48}} who is a parody of Jung himself.{{Rp|page=49}}

According to Rafał Grupiński and {{interlanguage link|Izolda Kiec|pl}}, the novel is a parable of human fate which speaks of unfulfillment and dreams.{{Cite book |last1=Grupiński |first1=Rafał |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37894807 |title=Niebawem spadnie błoto: czyli kilka uwag o literaturze nieprzyjemnej |last2=Kiec |first2=Izolda |date=1997 |publisher=Obserwator |isbn=83-87235-00-8 |edition=Wyd. 1 |location=Poznań |page=119 |oclc=37894807}} In the opinion of {{interlanguage link|Brigitta Helbig-Mischewski|de}}, the novel describes a "woman's tragedy of lacking agency".{{Rp|page=59}} Katarzyna Kantner notes that Tokarczuk skillfully uses the convention of the psychological novel, transforming it into her own spin on the genre.{{Rp|page=48}} She also draws attention to the fact that E.E. is the first novel by the author in which she explores the relationship between the body and the mind.{{Rp|page=50}}

The book has been translated into Danish,{{Cite book |last=Tokarczuk |first=Olga |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/468312442 |title=E.E. : roman |date=1996 |publisher=Fremad |isbn=87-557-2024-2 |location=Kbh. |oclc=468312442}} Norwegian,{{Cite book |last=Tokarczuk |first=Olga |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/749298223 |title=E. E. |date=2001 |publisher=Cappelen |others=Anne Walseng |isbn=82-02-18526-2 |location=[Oslo] |oclc=749298223}} Macedonian,{{Cite book |last=Tokarczuk |first=Olga |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/894962471 |title=E. E. |date=2014 |publisher=Antolog |others=Lidija Tanuševska |isbn=978-608-243-005-8 |location=Skopje |oclc=894962471}} Ukrainian{{Cite book |last=Olga Tokarczuk |title=E.E. |year=2022 |isbn=978-617-569-549-4}} and Estonian.{{Cite book |last=Tokarczuk |first=Olga |title=E.E. |year=2022 |isbn=9789916969151}}

In 1998, the Polish public service broadcaster Telewizja Polska produced a TV play adaptation under the same title, directed by Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz. The role of Erna Eltzner was played by Agata Buzek.{{Cite web |title=E.E. |url=https://www.filmpolski.pl/fp/index.php?film=52849 |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=FilmPolski.pl |language=pl}} Tokarczuk co-wrote the screenplay.{{Cite news |title=Olga Tokarczuk debiutowała w Teatrze TV. Jako aktorka |url=https://www.rp.pl/telewizja/art1086381-olga-tokarczuk-debiutowala-w-teatrze-tv-jako-aktorka |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=Rzeczpospolita |language=pl}}

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{{Olga Tokarczuk}}

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Category:1995 Polish novels

Category:Novels by Olga Tokarczuk

Category:Polish novels adapted into plays

Category:Psychological novels

Category:Works set in Lower Silesian Voivodeship

Category:Novels set in Poland