The writings of Zofia Nalkowska are an important contribution in twentieth-century Polish prose. Nalkowska introduced into Polish fiction the modern question of personality; she abandoned traditional realism in favor of the novel of analysis with its philosophical interests and its goal of uncovering the laws governing "character." Many of her works combine features of the novel and the essay, with the author becoming one of the characters. This practice distinguishes her from the stream-of-consciousness trend in modern psychological fiction. At the same time, she followed closely the historical and social transformations of her nation, deriving material for broad generalizations concerning the individual and the collective consciousness. She was a grand figure of Polish literature during the first half of the twentieth century and an example of the emergence of women authors in Polish culture.

Zofia Nalkowska was born on 10 November 1884 in Warsaw to Waclaw Nalkowski, a distinguished geographer...