„Syn ziemi”? „Kułak nowoczesny”? Reymont w powojennym odczytaniu (1945–1955)
“A son of the earth”? “The modern kulak”? Reymont in postwar interpretation (1945–1955)

Summary/Abstract: This article explores the reception of Władysław Reymont’s work between 1945 and 1955. The story of this reception begins with an often-cited article by Kazimierz Wyka, Vital Traditions of Polish Prose (1945), which significantly influenced subsequent interpretations of Reymont’s works in the early postwar years. During this period, several books about the writer were published: Reymont by Zdzisław Skwarczyński (1948), Chłopi by Maria Rzeuska (1950), Władysław Reymont: An Outline Monograph by Lech Budrecki (1953), and the hybrid-form work A Son of the Earth by Leszek Goliński (1954). Among these, Rzeuska’s thorough monograph stands out, as the author resisted the temptation to ideologize her work. Her articles advocated for a proper appreciation of Reymont’s peasant tetralogy and highlighted the limitations of one-sided, Marxist criticism, gradually paving the way for a new stage in the reception of his oeuvre. Reymont’s name appeared repeatedly in discussions about the direction of postwar prose within the peasant literature movement, which were mainly conducted in the pages of Wieś (The Village). Unfortunately, the ideologically charged atmosphere of the time did not encourage deeper, historically grounded literary reflections on the Nobel laureate’s achievements.

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