"It starts with a home" : building a place of memory in the novels of Olga Tokarczuk ("House of day, house of night") and Ewa Kujawska ("Małgorzata's house")

The aim of this article is to present the functioning of a house in two selected novels: House of Day, House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk and Małgorzata's House by Ewa Kujawska. The house (or rather home), being a place that is closest to man, is related here with a category of memories: here the building of memory starts as well as the identity and the relation between man and place. Both novels show, that building of this relation is a difficult task, especially when it concerns space, which connects to previous inhabitants. The authors lead their stories about a house, or rather houses that were built on lands that, due to historic turmoil, witnessed exchanges of populations and therefore need acknowledgement and domestication, which - relating to the title - starts with a home