“This Fast Is Quite Like Gluttony.” Everyday Life of an Exile in Kazimierz Szetkiewicz’s Letters to His Wife

Abstract

The article analyzes the way in which the exile, Kazimierz Szetkiewicz, describes his everyday life in letters to his wife. The repressions imposed on the author of the letters consisted in sending him away from his family home. He was not subjected to forced labor or other forms of physical torment. Therefore, it is possible to observe how a seemingly mild punishment affected the exile’s psyche and what difficulties he encountered while trying to create the illusion of a “normal” existence. The first problem appearing in the correspondence is the disruption of the relationship between the sender and the recipient of the letters, caused by external obstacles to communication. These difficulties create an unusual situation in which the letter becomes a kind of diary or memoir, since it lacks the sender–receiver interaction described in literary theory. Another important issue is that of existential matters: descriptions of loneliness, food supply, difficulties in religious practice, and boredom. All these aspects together create an image of the fate of a man persecuted by the Tsarist authorities that differs significantly from the conventional stereotype.