Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper (book recommendation/preporuka knjiga)

January 23, 2017

Today just one quick reading recommendation. The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It was published in 1899 (as you can see on these photographs). Here is a link to a pdf version of this text. The author's right are expired, so feel free to pass it around- it is one of advantages of reading classics:). I do consider this short story to be a classic. It tells a story of a woman who is recovering from post natal depression and is confined to her room. It is considered to one of the earliest works of American feminist literature. In its time it was a very important and ground breaking work because it shed more light on mistreatment of depression in woman (and in many ways it is still relevant), but I think that even if we put all of that aside, it is still a great story. Even without its important historical context, the story is strong enough to stand on its own. In reality, it is a well written and touching short story. Moreover, I would say that this 6,000 words short story is a small masterpiece.

Danas samo jedna brza preporuka za čitanje. Žute tapete su kratka priča Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Objavljena je 1899. (kao što možete vidjeti na ovim fotografijama). Ovdje je poveznica za stranicu na kojoj možete skinuti pdf verziju koja je pogodna za ispis. Autorska prava su istekla, tako da je slobodno možete dijeliti okolo- to je jedna od prednosti čitanja klasika:). Smatram da je ova kratka priča pravi klasik. Priča o ženi koja se oporavlja od postnatalne depresije i zatvorena je u svoju sobu. Smatra se jednim od najranijih feminističkih djela u američkoj književnosti. Za svoje vrijeme bilo je to vrlo važno i revolucionarno djelo jer je prikazalo krivi tretman depresije u ženskoj populaciji (na puno načina je ovo djelo još uvijek bitno), no mislim da čak i ako stavimo sve to po strani, to je još uvijek sjajna priča. Čak i bez svoga važnoga povijesnoga konteksta, priča je toliko jaka da je vrijedna i sama po sebi. Zapravo rekla bi da je ova priča od 6 000 riječi pravo malo remek djelo.

The story is written as a series of diary entries and it conveys perfectly the feeling of isolation (both psychological and physical) that its protagonist experiences. Because of its theme, it is not the easiest thing to read about, but I think this subject is an important one to read about- and it is still so relevant. The mistreatment of psychological problems is always an important subject. Mental illness are something we shouldn't feel ashamed to talk about. The unnamed female protagonist in this story is separated from her child and confined to her room. All her prepositions for getting better (such as being reunited with her child, reading and spending time with other people) are ignored. The husband of a woman in the story is a physician, but unfortunately his 'treatment' of his wife isn't effective. It is a story of a women who going crazy, but as the author herself said, she wrote it to stop women from being driven crazy.

Priča je napisana kao niz dnevničkih zapisa i savršeno prenosi osjećaj izoliranosti (psihološke i fizičke) kroz koju prolazi glavni lik. Zbog svoje teme i nije najlakše štivo za čitanje, ali mislim da je ova tema jako važna za čitanje i još uvijek iznimno relevatna. Loš tretmant psiholoških problema je uvijek važna tema. Mentalne bolesti su nešto o čemu se ne bismo trebali sramiti razgovorati. Glavni lik ove priče je neimenovana žena koja je odvojena od svoga djeteta. Svi njezini prijedlozi za ozdravljenjem (kao to da provodi vrijeme sa svojim djetetom, čitanje ili druženje s ljudima) su odbačeni. Muž žene u ovoj priči je liječnik, ali nažalost njegovo liječenje njegove žene nije učinkovito. To je priča o ženi koja gubi razum, ali kao što je autorica rekla, napisala ju je kako bi spriječila da žene budu dovedene do ludila.

The story is actually written on Charlotte's personal experience, because she had undergone treatment for depression, she wanted to point out to her doctor what he was doing wrong. In a way, she accused him of bad treatment of women, but he was stubborn and continued curing post natal depression in his way. Charlotte Perkins Gilman sent him the copy of her story, but he never answered her. Dr. S. Weir Mitchell went on to trying to create hospitals that would treat women by isolating them- which in most cases makes the symptoms of depression worse. This doctor might not have had bad intentions, but he made tragic mistakes. Post natal depression is something that is unfortunately something of a taboo, which makes this story all the more relevant. In any case, The Yellow Wallpaper has my recommendation, both as a work of literature and a historical testament of its time.

Ova priča je zapravo temeljena na osobnom iskustvu Charlotte koja se i sama liječila od depresije i stoga je željela istaknuti svome doktoru u čemu je griješio. Na neki način ga je optužila za loš tretman žena, ali on je bio tvrdoglav i nastavio je liječiti postnatalnu depresiju na svoj način. Charlotte Perkins Gilman mu je poslala kopiju svoje priče, ali on joj nikad nije odgovorio. Dr. S. Weir Mitchell je nastavio stvarati bolnice koje će liječiti žene tako što će ih izolirati- što u većini slučajeva pogoršava simptome depresije. Ovaj doktor možda i nije imao loše namjere, ali radio je tragične pogrješke. Postnatalna depresije je nešto što je nažalost još uvijek tabu, što čini ovu priču još više značajnom. U svakom slučaju ova priča ima moju preporuku, i kao književno djelo i kao svjedočanstvo svoga vremena.