Taking Sides: Heroes, Antiheroes, and Journalism of Attachment in Ryszard Kapuściński’s Imperium
Taking Sides: Heroes, Antiheroes, and Journalism of Attachment in Ryszard Kapuściński’s Imperium

Summary/Abstract: The present article discusses the practice of journalism of attachment in Imperium (1993), one of the most important journalistic works of Polish reporter Ryszard Kapuściński. The paper analyses the presentation strategies the reporter appeals to in order to build a narration based on the opposition victim-perpetrator, a central aspect of this form of journalism focused on proposing moral evaluations and defending the oppressed in front of the oppressor. In Imperium, the journalism of attachment discourse is articulated around several prevailing themes: Russification policy of the USSR and construction of the homo sovieticus, decolonization and its consequences, Soviet Union’s rapaciousness, and impoverishment of the subdued nations. Using strategies like thematic polarizations, cross-temporal analogies and Us versus Them dilemma, Kapuściński projects negative frames on the Soviet Union and the Russians, portrayed as the antihero in the “story” of decolonization and liberation of the former Soviet republics and their inhabitants, framed positively in their turn as heroes who survived the dictatorial regime. The article also discusses the concept of journalistic objectivity and the manner in which the reporter, when faced with accusation of subjectivity and manipulative intentions, manages to build a coherent and credible discourse for the audiences.

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