Analyzing Don Quixote from the perspective of the main character's madness has a long history backed by a well-entrenched critical tradition. The latter was recently revisited by Marcin Rychter in his article 'Don Kichote i szaleństwo' [Don Quixote and madness] ( Przegląd Filozoficzny, N.S., 2017 (2), pp. 121–133). Although Rychter eschews psychiatric terminology in his descriptions of Don Quixote's state of mind, he cannot help using the term 'psychosis' and assumes that the reactions of Cervantes' protagonist are delusions and hallucinations. This article steers clear of any psychoanalytical or psychiatric interpretations of Don Quixote and suggests instead that he represents a metaphorical projection of self-estrangement which has reached the point of not being able to interact with the outside world. The very creation of such a character dramatizes the problem of incongruity between self-expression and the rules of communication with other people and the basic assumptions which make understanding and being understood possible. In effect Don Quixote may be seen as an exemplary figure typifying both autism and cognitive distortions. He personifies the Other, i.e. someone who is separate and estranged from the community and its norms and, at the same time, valiantly grapples with that condition trying again and again to transcend it.

This article deals with literary pathography, i.e. texts which purport to project rage or a mental disorder, and use narrative strategies adopted specifically for that purpose. The analysis is focused on two novels by Aleksandra Zielińska, Przypadek Alicji (Alicja’s Case) and Bura i szał (Bura and Rage) treated as literary representations of the protagonists' mental condition. The literary character of these 'records' is revealed by multiple intertextual tropes and poetic devices that deconstruct the cultural stereotype of female rage. Consequently, Aleksandra Zielińska's novels should be seen as projections of a fractured female subject (un sujet divisé) fixed on her somatic vulnerability, driven by an urge to cry out her affliction, trauma and rage, unease about woman-to-woman relations, and the pressure of erratic affective impulses.