Communism, Socialist Realism, Opposition: Postwar History of Several Polish Poets. On a Book “Avalanche And Stones” by Anna Bikont and Joanna Szczęsna Cover Image

Komunizm, socrealizm, opozycja: powojenna historia kilku polskich pisarzy. Wokół książki Anny Bikont i Joanny Szczęsnej „Lawina i kamienie”
Communism, Socialist Realism, Opposition: Postwar History of Several Polish Poets. On a Book “Avalanche And Stones” by Anna Bikont and Joanna Szczęsna

Author(s): Dariusz Kulesza
Subject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: Instytut Badań Literackich Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Anna Bikont; Joanna Szczęsna; "Lawina i kamienie [Avalanche and Stones]"; Jerzy Andrzejewski; Tadeusz Borowski; Kazimierz Brandys; Tadeusz Konwicki; Adam Ważyk; Wiktor Woroszylski; Gustaw Herling-Grudziński; Zbigniew Herbert; Czesław Miłosz

Summary/Abstract: The concern of the article is a book by Anna Bikont and Joanna Szczęsna "Avalanche and Stones. Writers and Communism," which gives an account of six Polish writers, i.e. Jerzy Andrzejewski, Tadeusz Borowski, Kazimierz Brandys, Tadeusz Konwicki, Adam Ważyk, and Wiktor Woroszylski. It starts with the poets’ postwar involvement into communism and socialist realism, and leads through the Party’s revisionism to their anti-Polish People’s Republic activities as oppositionists. Commenting on the protagonists’ fortunes as presented in the book in question, the author takes advantage of the literary-history context, refers to political-literary personal tensions (most of all between Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, Zbigniew Herbert and Czesław Miłosz), and pays attention to vital subjects of Polish postwar history, of which most considerable is the origin and ethos of political opposition.

  • Issue Year: 2009
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 57-84
  • Page Count: 28
  • Language: Polish