Polish literature

Introduction

      body of writings in Polish, one of the Slavic languages. The Polish national literature holds an exceptional position in Poland. Over the centuries it has mirrored the turbulent events of Polish history and at times sustained the nation's cultural and political identity.

      Poland acquired a literary language in Latin when it became a Christian land in the 10th century. When Mieszko I, prince of Poland, accepted Christianity in 966, he invited Roman Catholic priests from western Europe to build churches and monasteries as religious and cultural centres. In these centres Latin was the official language of the church, and it eventually became the language of early Polish literature.

      Thereafter literature in the Polish language was slow to emerge. The development of a national literature was restrained in part by Poland's remoteness from the cultural centres of Western civilization and by the difficulties that assailed the young state, which was frequently attacked by plundering invaders and subsequently weakened by division into small principalities.

The Middle Ages

Religious writings

      As in other European countries, Latin was at first the only literary language of Poland, and early works included saints' lives, annals, and chronicles written by monks and priests. The most important of these works are the Chronicon, which was compiled about 1113 by a Benedictine known only as Gallus Anonymous, and the Annales seu cronicae incliti regni Poloniae, brought up to 1480 by Jan Długosz (Długosz, Jan), archbishop of Lwów. These two works parallel similar achievements in western Europe. Use of the vernacular was allowed by the church where Latin could not meet particular needs—in prayers, sermons, and songs. The oldest surviving poetry text in Polish is a song in honour of the Virgin Mary, “Bogurodzica” (“Mother of God”), in which language and rhythm are used with high artistic craftsmanship. The earliest extant copy of the song's text dates from 1407, but its origins are much earlier. Preaching in Polish became established toward the end of the 13th century; the earliest-known example of Polish prose, the Kazania świętokrzyskie (“Sermons of the Holy Cross”), dating from the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century, was discovered in 1890. Among many similar works, a partial translation of the Bible, made about 1455 for Queen Sophia, widow of Władysław Jagiełło (Władysław II Jagiełło), has also survived.

Early secular literature

      Secular works began to appear in the middle of the 15th century. There was a poem criticizing the papacy (c. 1449) by Jędrzej Gałka, a follower of reformers John Wycliffe (Wycliffe, John) and Jan Hus (Hus, Jan), and a high literary standard was achieved in a morality verse dialogue, Rozmowa Mistrza ze Śmiercią (“Dialogue Between the Master and Death”). The medieval period of Polish literature lasted long. Elements of this late medievalism are evident in Marcin Bielski's Renaissance work Kronika wszystkiego świata (1551; “Chronicle of the Whole World”), the first general history in Polish of both Poland and the rest of the world.

      The best examples of Polish literature of that period imply a building and maintaining of high literary standards. Although the themes are those of a common European heritage, medieval Polish writings are often intensely personal even when they are anonymous. The groundwork was laid for Polish literature's elevation to the ranks of major literature during the reign of Casimir the Great (Casimir III), who founded the University of Kraków in 1364.

The Renaissance period

      Although the Renaissance reached Poland comparatively late, it ushered in the golden age of Polish literature. External security, constitutional consolidation, and the Reformation contributed to this flowering.

      The first generation of writers influenced by the Italian humanists wrote in Latin. This group includes Jan Dantyszek (Johannes Dantiscus (Dantiscus, Johannes)), an author of incidental verse, love poetry, and panegyric; Andrzej Krzycki (Cricius), an archbishop who wrote witty epigrams, political verse, and religious poems; and Klemens Janicki (Janicius), a peasant who studied in Italy and won there the title of poet laureate. Janicki was the most original Polish poet of the age.

      Mikołaj Rej of Nagłowice was notable for combining medieval religious interests with Renaissance humanism. Self-educated, he was the first idiomatically Polish talent and a widely read writer of his time. He is known as “the father of Polish literature.” He wrote satirical poems and epigrams, but more important are his prose works, especially Żywot człowieka poczciwego (1568; “Life of a Decent Man”), a presentation of an ideal nobleman, and a didactic dialogue, Krótka rozprawa między trzemi osobami panem, wójtem a plebanem (1543; “A Short Discourse Between the Squire, the Bailiff, and the Parson”).

Kochanowski and his followers

      The second generation of humanist poets, indeed the whole Renaissance period, was dominated by Jan Kochanowski (Kochanowski, Jan). The son of a country squire, he traveled widely in Europe, then served at the royal court in Kraków until he settled down at his country estate. He began writing in Latin but soon switched to the vernacular. He wrote both satirical poetry and classical tragedy, but his lyrical works proved to be superior to anything written before him. His crowning achievement, a Polish work that equals the great poems of western Europe, was Treny (1580; Laments). Inspired by despair after the death of his three-year-old daughter, it ends on a note of reconciliation and spiritual harmony.

      The most notable of Kochanowski's followers was Szymon Szymonowic (Simonides). He introduced in his Sielanki (1614; “Idylls”) a poetic genre that was to retain its vitality until the end of the 19th century. These pastoral poems exemplify the processes of imitation, adaptation, and assimilation by which Renaissance writers brought foreign models into the native tradition.

      The numerous poems, in Latin and Polish, of Sebastian Klonowic (Klonowic, Sebastian) are of interest for their description of contemporary life. Worek Judaszów (1600; “Judas's Sack”) is a satirical poem on plebeian life in the city of Lublin, of which Klonowic was mayor.

Achievements in prose writing

      The prose of the 16th century ranked with poetry in its vitality and range. The most eminent writer in Latin was Andrzej Frycz-Modrzewski (Modrzewski, Andrzej). In his Commentariorum de republica emendanda libri quinque (1554; “Commentary on Reforming the Republic in Five Books”), he evolved a bold social and political system based on the principle of equality before God and the law. Another notable political writer was Marcin Kromer, scholar, humanist, historian, and Catholic apologist. The most interesting of his works is Rozmowy dworzanina z mnichem (1551–54; “Dialogues of a Courtier with a Monk”), a strong defense of Catholic dogma. Many historical and political writings and translations of the Bible were also published during this period, with Jakub Wujek's Polish translation of the Bible as an outstanding literary work.

      By the end of the Renaissance period, Polish literature had become a national literature, reflecting the country's position as a great power with far-flung boundaries, the evolution of the nobility as a ruling class, and the nation's economic prosperity. Poland's influence spread east, above all to Moscow, while to the west its culture was represented by men of such high repute as the scientist and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikołaj Kopernik).

The Baroque period

      The Baroque (Baroque period) came to Poland in the second half of the 17th century. In 1564 the Polish cardinal Stanisław Hosius (Hosius, Stanislaus), one of the most significant figures of the Counter Reformation, invited the Jesuits to settle in the country, and soon the Protestant influence, strong during the Renaissance, began to wane. In spite of almost incessant wars, the literary output in this period was quite considerable. Indeed, perhaps it mirrored, in its stylistic tension, the external strife that preoccupied the country.

Poetry

      A forerunner of Baroque poetry was Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński (Sęp Szarzyński, Mikołaj), who wrote predominantly religious poetry akin to that of the English Metaphysical poets (Metaphysical poet). In the Baroque period itself satire and pastoral became popular forms. Foremost among satirists was Krzysztof Opaliński (Opaliński, Krzysztof). His Satyry albo przestrogi do naprawy rządu i obyczajów w Polszcze należące (1650; “Satires or Warnings on the Reform of the Government and Customs in Poland”) is bitter, pessimistic, and wide-ranging. The pastoral was represented by Samuel Twardowski (Twardowski, Samuel), author of Daphnis drzewem bobkowym (1638; “Daphne Transformed into a Laurel Tree”) and the romance Nadobna Paskwalina (1655; “Fair Pasqualina”), a tale of sacred and profane love in which Polish Baroque achieved its most finely wrought splendour. The Roxolanki (1654; “Roxolania”), a collection of love songs by Szymon Zimorowic, and the Sielanki nowe ruskie (1663; “New Ruthenian Idylls”), written by his brother Józef Bartłomiej Zimorowic (Zimorowic, Józef Bartłomiej), introduced topical dramatic elements into the traditional pastoral lyric; images of war and death were superimposed upon the pastoral background, with macabre effect and typical Baroque incongruity.

      A parallel but less formalized rustic genre produced poetry celebrating life in the countryside. One of the more interesting examples of this genre, transforming itself into a full-blown image of the turbulent century, is Muza domowa (1652–83; “Domestic Muse”) by Zbigniew Morsztyn (Morsztyn, Zbigniew), whose finest achievement was in religious poetry.

      The age was characterized by an ambition to write heroic epics—a preoccupation to be explained perhaps by such historical events as the wars against the Cossacks, the Russians, the Swedes, and the Turks. The Italian poet Torquato Tasso (Tasso, Torquato)'s Gerusalemme liberata (1581; “Jerusalem Liberated”), brilliantly translated by Piotr Kochanowski, inspired attempts at epics on national themes, notably the vigorous Wojna chocimska (c. 1673; “The War of Chocim”) by Wacław Potocki. Another epic, Psalmodia polska (1695; “Polish Psalmody”) by Wespazjan Kochowski (Kochowski, Wespazjan), was written in celebration of John Sobieski (John III Sobieski)'s victory over the Turks at Vienna in 1683, at which Kochowski had been present. That cycle of psalms written in prose, with its messianic interpretation of Poland's destiny, became a model for the Romantic (Romanticism) poets of the 19th century.

Other literary forms

      The prose of the Baroque period did not rise to the level of its poetry, though there was a wealth of diaries and memoirs. Outstanding were the memoirs of Jan Chryzostom Pasek (Pasek, Jan Chryzostom), a country squire and soldier. The period was also notable for the emergence of the letter as a literary form. The letters of John Sobieski (John III Sobieski) to his wife are remarkable for their passion and tenderness and for their day-by-day account of his experiences in combat and diplomacy. Another interesting development was the rise of a popular anonymous literature, exemplified by the komedia rybałtowska (“ribald comedies”). These were generally popular satiric comedies and broad farces written mainly by playwrights of plebeian birth. Piotr Baryka is one of the few of these playwrights whose names are known. He wrote a carnival comedy, Z chłopa król (1637; “From Peasant to King”), which, as its title indicates, carried a motif made popular in the introduction to Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew—the seeming bestowal of noble rank upon a person of lowly birth. Several examples of this type of comedy have survived, and they include realistic depictions of popular customs and grotesquely humorous situations that parody in many cases the lofty themes of the “official” literature.

      The last stage of Baroque literature (c. 1675–c. 1750) marks a long process of decline, interrupted only by the emergence of the first women writers and by the major figure of Stanisław Konarski (Konarski, Stanisław), a reformer of education, literature, and the political system.

      It was not until the mid-20th century that the literature of the Baroque period was fully appreciated. It may well be regarded as the most enduring of Polish styles, for many of its features recurred in the Romantic period and in modern writing.

The Enlightenment

      Polish literature was greatly influenced by the country's close contact with western Europe, especially with France and England, during the Enlightenment. Polish writers were inspired in particular by the idea of saving the national culture from the disastrous effects of partitions and foreign rule. The result was the rise of theatres and drama, the periodical and the novel, and an interest in folk literature and its specific forms, such as the ballad.

The rise of the Polish drama

      Drama was established late in Poland, under the influence of modern French and Italian drama. The earliest significant event was the inauguration of a national theatre in Warsaw in 1765. The three principal dramatists of the period were Franciszek Bohomolec (Bohomolec, Franciszek), whose satires were often adapted from Molière; Wojciech Bogusławski (Bogusławski, Wojciech), who wrote a popular national comic opera, Cud mniemany czyli Krakowiacy i górale (1794; “The Pretended Miracle, or Krakovians and Highlanders”); and Franciszek Zabłocki, who is important for Fircyk w zalotach (1781; “The Dandy's Courtship”) and Sarmatyzm (1785; “Sarmatian Ways”). Aleksander Fredro (Fredro, Aleksander)'s comedies appeared when the Romantic movement was under way, and in them the influences of Molière and Carlo Goldoni (Goldoni, Carlo) are evident, as his Zemsta (1834; “Vengeance”) amply illustrates. Fredro's plays are remarkable for brilliant “type” characterization, ingenious construction, and metrical facility.

Didactic element in prose and poetry

      Didacticism permeated most of the period's prose writing. Modern periodicals appeared at this time (e.g., Monitor, 1765–85), and a Polish dictionary was published between 1807 and 1814. The poetic works of Bishop Adam Naruszewicz (Naruszewicz, Adam), considered chronologically, reflect the transition from the Baroque to the classicism of the Enlightenment, and he also wrote a history of Poland in which modern methods of scholarship were used. The most important poet, Bishop Ignacy Krasicki (Krasicki, Ignacy), of European outlook and skeptical intellect, wrote two mock-heroic poems, Myszeis (1775; “The Idylls of the Mice”) and Monachomachia (1778; “War of the Monks”), as well as Satyry (1779; “Satires”) and Bajki i przypowieści (1779; “Fables and Moral Tales”). His works are notable for their concise expression, formal elegance, and wit. Krasicki also wrote the first Polish novel, Mikołaja Doświadczyńskiego przypadki (1776; The Adventures of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom), written in diary form and showing the influence of Jonathan Swift (Swift, Jonathan) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Rousseau, Jean-Jacques). Two other outstanding poets were Stanisław Trembecki, whose works are models of stylistic fluency, and Kajetan Węgierski, a freethinker and admirer of Voltaire who is notorious for his lampoons of influential personalities and fashions.

Further development of lyric poetry

      Lyric poets of the Enlightenment include Franciszek Karpiński, who expanded on features of the Baroque style in popular pastorals and religious songs, and Franciszek Dyonizy Kniaźnin, whose style gradually evolved from the Baroque to the classical; he anticipated Romantic themes of folk poetry, popular superstition, and Gypsy (Rom) life.

      Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz (Niemcewicz, Julian Ursyn)'s writings were inspired by patriotism and concern for reform. He knew English literature thoroughly and made early translations of English Romantic ballads; his original dumy (ballads) were the first literary ballads in Poland. He also introduced the historical novel to Poland with Jan z Tęczyna (1825; “Jan of Tęczyn”), which showed the influence of Sir Walter Scott (Scott, Sir Walter, 1st Baronet). His comedy Powrót posła (1790; “The Return of the Deputy”) was one of the best dramatic works of the period, and Śpiewy historyczne (1816; “Historical Songs”) was widely read.

      After the loss of national independence, with the third partition of the country between Russia, Austria, and Prussia in 1795–96, the tradition of patriotic poetry was continued by émigré soldier-poets in the Polish legions of Napoleon's army. Among them was Józef Wybicki, whose popular patriotic song “Mazurek Dąbrowskiego” (1797; “Dąbrowski's Mazurka”) was adopted as the national anthem in 1918.

The 19th century

      Classicism (Classicism and Neoclassicism) in Poland, established in the mid-18th century, developed further early in the 19th century; later dubbed pseudoclassicism by scornful Romantic poets, it returned to the forms of ancient literature, especially to Greek and Roman drama, odes, and epic poetry. It preceded the rapid rise of Romantic poetry in the early 1820s.

Romanticism

      The Romantic period began later in Poland than in England or Germany, and it lasted longer. It has been regarded as the greatest period in Polish literature. The rise of Romanticism coincided with the loss of Poland's independence at the end of the 18th century, and great writers reflected the national tragedy in their poetry. A need to interpret their country's destiny gave the work of the three great Romantic poets—Adam Mickiewicz (Mickiewicz, Adam), Juliusz Słowacki (Słowacki, Juliusz), and Zygmunt Krasiński (Krasiński, Zygmunt)—visionary power and moral authority. Writing in exile, they kept alive their faith in the restoration of Polish independence, and their concern gave the literature of the Polish Romantic movement its strength and passion.

      Mickiewicz was the greatest Polish poet and the leader of the Romantic period. His two-volume Poezye (1822–23; “Poems”) was the first major literary event of the period. The second volume included parts two and four of Dziady (Forefathers' Eve), in which he combined folklore and mystic atmosphere to create a new kind of Romantic drama. Mickiewicz wrote his greatest works after 1824, when, owing to his membership in a student organization that practiced patriotic activities, he was deported to Russia and then emigrated, eventually to France. These works include Sonety Krymskie (1826; Crimean Sonnets); a visionary third part of Forefather's Eve (1833); a messianic interpretation of Poland's past and future destiny, Księgi narodu polskiego i pielgrzymstwa polskiego (1832; Books of the Polish Nation and Its Pilgrimage), written in biblical prose; and a great epic poem, Pan Tadeusz (1834; Eng. trans. Pan Tadeusz).

      The suppression of the anti-Russian November Insurrection of 1830–31 drove the cultural elite into exile in France; among the poets there were Mickiewicz, Słowacki, Krasiński, and, later on, Cyprian Norwid (Norwid, Cyprian). Słowacki, a Romantic in the fullest sense, wrote well-turned lyrical poetry and verse narratives in the style of Lord Byron (Byron, George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron). He was inspired by patriotic themes: Kordian (1834) was a drama of conspiracy and problems of commitment. His subtle poem W Szwajcarii (1839; “In Switzerland”) is probably the finest lyrical work in Polish. Much of Słowacki's work was in dramatic form, and although written for an imaginary stage rather than for an intended production, it laid the foundations of Polish tragic drama. His plays showed the influence of French Romantic drama, William Shakespeare (Shakespeare, William), classical tragedy, and Pedro Calderón de la Barca (Calderón de la Barca, Pedro). The last years of Słowacki's life were devoted to writing Król-Duch (1847; “The Spirit King”), an unfinished lyrical and symbolic epic describing the history of a people as a series of incarnations of the essential spirit of the nation.

      At age 23, Zygmunt Krasiński published (anonymously, as he did all his works) Nieboska komedia (1835; The Undivine Comedy), which presented, for the first time in Europe, a struggle between opposed worlds of aristocracy and disinherited proletarian masses. Irydion (1836; Eng. trans. Iridion), his second play, was an allegory of Poland's fate. In Przedświt (1843; “The Moment Before Dawn”) he developed a messianic interpretation of Polish history, and this conception of Poland as “the Christ among the nations” was also expounded in Psalmy przyszłości (1845; “Psalms of the Future”). The introduction of fantastic or supernatural elements into a realistic setting was characteristic of many Polish Romantic works.

      The sophisticated form of Cyprian Norwid (Norwid, Cyprian)'s poetry was not fully recognized until the 20th century. During his lifetime he was misjudged and remained obscure, partly because he accepted some ideas of Romanticism while criticizing others but even more because he maintained an ironic intellectual reserve. One of the most important works that he published during his lifetime was a verse dialogue on aesthetics, Promethidion (1851), which expounded a theory of the social and moral function of art anticipating that of John Ruskin (Ruskin, John). An authentic text of his most significant lyrical collection, Vade-mecum (an ambiguous title, meaning variously “Go with Me” and “A Manual”), was first published in 1947. Norwid experimented with free verse and with the rhythms of speech, and, furthermore, he foreshadowed the French Symbolists (Symbolist movement) in his analogical method of presenting the poetic concept.

      The lesser talents of early Romanticism formed the so-called Polish Ukrainian school, of which Antoni Malczewski (Malczewski, Antoni) was an outstanding member on the basis of a single poem, the Romantic verse narrative Maria (1825), a tale of love and treachery remarkable for original diction, dramatic tension, and unity of mood.

      There were fewer prose writers than poets among the exiles. Zygmunt Miłkowski (pseudonym Teodor Tomasz Jeż) wrote on a wide range of subjects, including folklore and the history of the Balkan countries. The literary criticism of Maurycy Mochnacki (Mochnacki, Maurycy), a passionate advocate of Romanticism and the first Polish critic to link literature with Poland's political progress, exercised a strong influence on literary theory. The historical works of Joachim Lelewel (Lelewel, Joachim), a great and many-sided scholar, were impressive examples of the prose of the period.

      As a result of partition, Romantic poetry in Poland was limited to closed provincial circles. In Warsaw a group of young poets was formed, but its activities were restricted by political pressure. Its most fully developed talent was Teofil Lenartowicz. Ryszard Wincenty Berwiński (Berwiński, Ryszard Wincenty), a poet of social radicalism, wrote Poezje (1844; “Poems”) and Studia o literaturze ludowej (1854; “Studies on Folk Literature”), which marked a step away from Romantic nationalist interpretations and stressed the international community of folk tradition.

      Prose was more popular with writers in Poland than with those in exile. Henryk Rzewuski belonged spiritually to the 18th century: Pamiątki J. Pana Seweryna Soplicy (1839; “Memoirs of Mister Seweryn Soplica”) evoked the atmosphere of the Baroque tradition. As the century progressed, signs of a tendency toward realism were discernible in Józef Korzeniowski's novels Spekulant (1846; “The Speculator”) and Kollokacja (1847; “The Collocation”). A woman novelist, Narcyza Żmichowska (pseudonym Gabryella), produced Poganka (1846; “The Pagan”), a psychological allegory anticipating 20th-century sensibility in its subtle analysis of feeling. The dominant figure among prose writers was Józef Ignacy Kraszewski (Kraszewski, Józef Ignacy), whose output ran into hundreds of volumes of fiction, history, ethnography, criticism, and so on. His imaginative writings reflected the changes of literary style during his long career. Although his opposition to the Polish policy of appeasing the Russians forced him into exile in 1863, Kraszewski continued to influence Polish writers at home and in exile, maintaining the Polish cause through his manifold activities.

      Polish Romanticism, conscious of its role as the torch of national spirit, retained its force as a mode of thinking beyond the period of the political circumstances that fostered it. It produced works of highest artistic value, which excited the interest of foreign writers. Mickiewicz influenced Slavonic literatures and was compared by George Sand (Sand, George) with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von) and Lord Byron (Byron, George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron). Słowacki's poetic technique proved of fundamental importance to writers at the end of the 19th century, whereas Norwid's influence grew steadily stronger in the 20th century. The political ideas fostered by the Romantic movement influenced the outbreak of the 1863 January Insurrection against the Russians, which resulted in further curtailment of national and personal freedom in occupied Poland.

Positivism

      The literary trend of the period following the January Insurrection was called Positivism; it reflected a practical approach to the existing political realities as a reaction against Romanticism and its ideology. The period marked the rapid rise of an urban upper middle class, from which emerged the intelligentsia who fostered these new ideas. Periodicals were of particular importance in disseminating new ideas, especially the Tygodnik llustrowany (“Illustrated Weekly”), founded in 1859. The natural consequence of a Positivist outlook was a predominance of prose. With other writers of the Warsaw school, Aleksander Świętochowski voiced anticlerical and antiaristocratic views in his weekly Prawda (“Truth”). Bolesław Prus (Prus, Bolesław) (Aleksander Głowacki), a journalist, ranked high among Polish novelists with works such as Lalka (1890; The Doll), which was a complex picture of bourgeois life in Warsaw, and Faraon (1897; The Pharaoh and the Priest), which ambitiously evoked ancient Egypt in order to deal with political problems that could not be published in their modern form. Eliza Orzeszkowa (Orzeszkowa, Eliza), a campaigner for social reform, wrote about women's emancipation, the ignorance of the peasants, and the problems faced by Jews in Poland. Her books showed psychological penetration and a fine sense of style.

      In 1905, Henryk Sienkiewicz (Sienkiewicz, Henryk) won the Nobel Prize for Literature. In the mid-1880s, with the publication of a trilogy of historical novels he had become Poland's most popular author; internationally, he was famous because of his widely translated Quo vadis? (1896; Eng. trans. Quo vadis?), a historical novel of ancient Rome under Nero.

      Closely following a new trend in western Europe, naturalism gained ground toward the end of the 19th century, as seen in the stories of Adolf Dygasiński (Dygasiński, Adolf), famous for portrayals of animal life—such as Zając (1900; “The Hare”)—that could be compared with those of Rudyard Kipling (Kipling, Rudyard). Gabriela Zapolska (Zapolska, Gabriela), a critic of social hypocrisy in Naturalist novels and lively comedies, excelled in dialogue and dramatic situations, in such plays as Moralność Pani Dulskiej (1906; “Mrs. Dulska's Morality”).

      The period produced two important Positivist poets: Adam Asnyk (Asnyk, Adam), who was a reflective lyricist of formal dexterity, and Maria Konopnicka (Konopnicka, Maria), who wrote of the plight of the oppressed.

The 20th century

The Young Poland movement

      The Young Poland movement united several different groups and tendencies in opposition to the Polish version of Positivism and in a desire to reinstate imagination as paramount in literature; hence, the movement is also known as Neoromanticism, Modernism, and Symbolism. Among its pioneers were Antoni Lange (Lange, Antoni), the poet, and Zenon Przesmycki (pseudonym Miriam), editor of the Symbolist review Chimera. Both made translations from a number of other languages and expressed aesthetic theories in critical essays. Przesmycki's most influential contribution to the development of a modern literature, however, was his discovery of Cyprian Norwid (Norwid, Cyprian).

      Kazimierz Przerwa Tetmajer (Tetmajer, Kazimierz) achieved popularity with his often nostalgic Poezje (1891–1924; “Poems”), but his prose had a greater vigour and precision of observation. Tetmajer's Na skalnym Podhalu (1903–10; Tales of the Tatras) contained some effectively stylized folk material. His contemporary Jan Kasprowicz (Kasprowicz, Jan) wrote long, lyrical poems; those in the volume Ginącemu światu (1902; “To a Dying World”) employed a technique of associations, quotations, musical repetitions, and free metre that anticipated modern European poetry. Tadeusz Miciński (Miciński, Tadeusz), a forerunner of Expressionism and Surrealism, wrote philosophical and mystical poems and plays, notably the collection of poems W mroku gwiazd (1902; “In the Twilight of the Stars”) and the play Kniaź Patiomkin (1906; “Prince Potemkin”). The lyrical poet Leopold Staff (Staff, Leopold), whose work shows great variety and technical dexterity, was at this period associated with the Young Poland movement, although some of his finest work was written later.

      Stanisław Przybyszewski (Przybyszewski, Stanisław) was a leading exponent of the movement's new aesthetic theories and edited a literary magazine, Życie (“Life”). Stefan Żeromski (Żeromski, Stefan) expressed passionate concern for social justice and national freedom in widely read works, but an excess of Realist documentation frequently vitiated the power of his later work. Władysław Stanisław Reymont (Reymont, Władysław Stanisław), of peasant stock, adapted the Naturalist technique to create a vision of peasant life in a four-volume epic novel cycle, Chłopi (1904–09; The Peasants), for which he received the Nobel Prize for Literature for 1924. One of the most effective novels of the period, Żywot i myśli Zygmunta Podfilipskiego (1898; “The Life and Thoughts of Zygmunt Podfilipski”) by Józef Weyssenhoff, presented an ironic portrait of the egoist in society. Wacław Berent (Berent, Wacław)'s Próchno (1903; “Rotten Wood”) portrayed with biting irony late-19th-century decadence in life and art. Berent's Ozimina (1911; “Winter Crop”), a Symbolist novel, foreshadowed the associative structure and narrative technique of James Joyce (Joyce, James)'s Ulysses (1922). His Żywe kamienie (1918; “Living Stones”) stressed the unity of medieval culture and Poland's place within it. Karol Irzykowski (Irzykowski, Karol)'s Pałuba (1903; “The Hag”) was a bold experiment antedating by several years the psychoanalytical novel in western Europe. In it, motivation and behaviour were presented from different viewpoints, ingeniously cemented by the author's own analyses, as in a scientific study. Irzykowski was also a critic and, in Dziesiąta Muza: Zagadnienia estetyczne kina (1924; “The Tenth Muse: Aesthetic Problems of the Cinema”), was the first to give attention to the cinema as an art form. Another influential critic, Stanisław Brzozowski (Brzozowski, Stanisław), insisted that a critic represent the moral consciousness of his age; in Legenda Młodej Polski (1909; “The Legend of Young Poland”) he analyzed the weakness of turn-of-the-20th-century literature and expounded his view of the unity of all work—physical, technical, intellectual, and artistic.

      Stanisław Wyspiański (Wyspiański, Stanisław) was a fine artist and dramatist. In his plays he reforged elements from classical tragedy and mythology, Polish Romantic drama, and national history into a complex whole. Wesele (1901; The Wedding, filmed in 1972 by Andrzej Wajda (Wajda, Andrzej)) is a visionary parable of Poland's past, present, and problematic future, cast in the form of the traditional puppet-theatre play. It is a masterpiece of evocative allusion, tragedy, and humour.

      The literature of the period was characterized by close contact with western European literatures, but writers such as Wyspiański turned to the Polish Romantics in search of a new poetic language.

Literature in independent Poland

      The restoration of the country's independence in 1918 decisively affected Polish literature. The period between 1918 and 1939 was characterized by richness, variety, and increasing contact with other European literatures, especially through the publication of translations. Lyrical poetry predominated for nearly a decade after 1918. The periodical Zdrój (“The Fountainhead”) showed affinities with German Expressionism. In Warsaw several poets formed a group called Skamander, from the name of their monthly publication; it was united by a desire to forge a poetic language attuned to modern life. One of its founders, Julian Tuwim (Tuwim, Julian), was a poet of emotional power and linguistic sensitivity. During World War II, in exile in Brazil and the United States, he wrote Kwiaty polskie (1949; “Polish Flowers”), notable for its nostalgia and for its length. Other Skamander members were Jan Lechoń (Lechoń, Jan) and Kazimierz Wierzyński (Wierzyński, Kazimierz) (both died abroad after World War II), Antoni Słonimski (Słonimski, Antoni), and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (Iwaszkiewicz, Jarosław), who was also a prolific prose writer. The group's sympathizers included two eminent women poets: Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska (Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, Maria), an urbane, lyrical poet, and Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna, a lyrical poet who often incorporated elements of folklore into her work. Another sympathizer was Władysław Broniewski (Broniewski, Władysław), a poet with strong left-wing sympathies who became a master of the revolutionary lyric, expressing involvement in current social and ideological problems.

      Bolesław Leśmian (Leśmian, Bolesław) wrote symbolic, Expressionist poetry that was remarkable for its inventive vocabulary, sensuous imagery, and philosophic content, all anticipating Existentialism. He published only three notable collections—Łąka (1920; “The Meadow”), Napój cienisty (1936; “The Shadowy Drink”), and Dziejba leśna (1938; “Woodland Tale”), published posthumously—but was considered by his admirers to be one of the most outstanding 20th-century Polish lyrical poets.

      The Polish Futurist movement followed revolutionary trends in poetry—particularly in Italy and Russia. More original was a group called Awangarda Krakowska (“Vanguard of Kraków”), led by Tadeusz Peiper. It produced few works but had widespread influence on the modernization of poetic technique. Two of its adherents, Julian Przyboś (Przyboś, Julian) and Adam Ważyk (Ważyk, Adam), the latter of whom was only loosely connected with the movement, rank among the outstanding poets of the post-World War II period. Also noteworthy is Józef Czechowicz (Czechowicz, Józef), who assimilated traditional and regional elements to the catastrophic images in his poems.

      Prose writing reached its ascendancy in the second decade of independence. Early novels by Zofia Nałkowska showed the influence of the Young Poland movement and focused on exploring the feminine psyche; later Nałkowska became preoccupied with social problems. Two other women writers of distinction were Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, noted for historical novels, and Maria Kuncewiczowa (Kuncewiczowa, Maria), who wrote psychological novels. Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski (Kaden-Bandrowski, Juliusz) used experimental realism in Czarne skrzydła (1928–29; “Black Wings”) and Mateusz Bigda (1933; “Matthew Bigda”), which treated social and political themes. Michał Choromański (Choromański, Michał)'s Zazdrość i medycyna (1933; Jealousy and Medicine) employed experimental methods of narrative sequence and was remarkable for its clinical analysis of character. A writer skilled in reflecting subtleties of perception was Bruno Schulz, author of Sklepy cynamonowe (1934; Cinnamon Shops), with prose reminiscent of Franz Kafka (Kafka, Franz).

      Tadeusz Żeleński (pseudonym Boy), witty, irreverent, and widely read, was a leading literary critic and one of Poland's best interpreters of French literature. The essay form was represented by Jan Parandowski (Parandowski, Jan), whose main theme was the classical culture of Greece and Rome. A subversive attack on intellectual and social conventions was launched in the novel Ferdydurke (1937; Eng. trans. Ferdydurke), by Witold Gombrowicz (Gombrowicz, Witold), who displayed in it a satirical talent similar to that of Alfred Jarry (Jarry, Alfred). The taste for the cyclic novel was satisfied by Maria Dąbrowska (Dąbrowska, Maria) with her four-volume Noce i dnie (1932–34; “Nights and Days”), an outstanding modern Polish example of a chronicle novel in epic style, about the development of the Polish intelligentsia of upper-middle-class origin.

      Drama was the weakest of the literary forms during this period, and playwrights such as Karol Hubert Rostworowski and Jerzy Szaniawski often used symbolism inherited from the Young Poland tradition. The experimental dramas of Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkiewicz, Stanisław Ignacy) were of interest chiefly for their expression of anti-Realist aesthetic theories; he developed many ideas of the Awangarda, applying the principles of “pure form” to painting and drama. He also forged catastrophic images of the future in his novels Pożegnanie jesieni (1927; “Farewell to Autumn”) and Nienasycenie (1930; Insatiability). Obsessed with the idea of a disintegration of European culture, which he viewed as endangered by totalitarian ideologies and an attempt to impose the uniformity of a “mass society,” Witkiewicz developed his ideas into plays combining elements of Surrealism, grotesque misrepresentation, and what later became known (in the plays of Eugène Ionesco (Ionesco, Eugène), for example, whose work Witkiewicz to some extent foreshadowed) as the Theatre of the Absurd (Absurd, Theatre of the). After World War II his work attracted interest abroad and appeared in translation (e.g., The Madman and the Nun and Other Plays, 1968).

Literature after 1945

      The impact of World War II, the experience of occupation, and the establishment of the People's Republic in 1945 decisively affected the character of literature in Poland and also produced a number of émigré writers who had become famous between World Wars I and II. Among the latter were lyrical poets of the Skamander group, former associates of the Awangarda movement, and Czesław Miłosz (Miłosz, Czesław), who immigrated to France in 1951 and to the United States a decade later. He was awarded a prize by the European Book Clubs Community for Zdobycie władzy (1955; first published in French as La prise du pouvoir, 1953; The Seizure of Power), and he received the Nobel Prize for Literature for 1980. Many émigrés wrote of their wartime experiences in prisons and forced-labour camps. The most literary of these is Inny świat (1953; A World Apart) by Gustaw Herling-Grudziński. Józef Mackiewicz published a number of violently anti-Soviet novels, for example, Nie trzeba głośno mówić (1969; “One Is Not Supposed to Speak Aloud”). Jerzy Pietrkiewicz, whose early poems were published in Poland before World War II, settled in London in 1939 and, as “Peterkiewicz,” wrote novels in English. Many Polish writers living in England during and after World War II gathered around a literary weekly published in London, Wiadomości (“The News”)—a continuation of the prewar Wiadomosci Literackie (“Literary News”)—as a centre of Polish intellectual life. Witold Gombrowicz (Gombrowicz, Witold), who died in France after a long stay in Argentina, also published his postwar work abroad. He became famous with the novels Trans-Atlantyk (1953; Eng. trans. Trans-Atlantyk), Pornografia (1960; Eng. trans. Pornografia), and Kosmos (1965; Cosmos), which won him the 1967 Prix Formentor, a publishers' international prize for literature. He also published abroad the plays Ślub (1953; The Marriage) and Operetka (1966; “Operetta”), as well as three volumes of diaries (Dziennik, 1953–66). In all these works, especially the novels, Gombrowicz treated philosophical and psychological themes in a satirical narrative style through which, by emphasizing the grotesque and irrational elements in human nature, he presented an exposé of the conventions of modern life and culture.

      While émigré writers refused to return to the communist-dominated country, those who survived the occupation resumed a rich cultural life in Warsaw and Kraków, enjoying limited freedom of expression until 1949 and publishing remarkably vivid images of the war years. A frequent theme of their prison-camp literature was the attempt to come to terms with fascism and war. This was exemplified in the short stories of Tadeusz Borowski (Borowski, Tadeusz), who had been a prisoner at Auschwitz. Borowski's postwar publications—notably Pożegnanie z Marią (1947; “Farewell to Mary”) and Kamienny świat (1948; “The World of Stone”), both published in This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Other Stories (1967)—explored human depravity and degradation. Adolf Rudnicki (Rudnicki, Adolf)'s lyrical prose treated moral and philosophical themes, and he described the wartime fate of the Jewish community in Poland in Szekspir (1948; “Shakespeare”) and Ucieczka z Jasnej Polany (1949; “Flight from Jasna Polana”). Fixing on the future rather than bearing witness, Jerzy Andrzejewski (Andrzejewski, Jerzy) in his novel Popiół i diament (1948; Ashes and Diamonds) examined the moral controversies that accompanied the political and social changes of the postwar period, especially the tragic situation of young conspirators involved in the struggle against the new communist regime.

The literature of Socialist Realism

      During 1949–55, the only officially acceptable literature conformed to the Soviet version of Socialist Realism, and those who wrote it followed the dictates of the Communist Party. A new type of hero was created—the ordinary man or woman actively engaged in “productive” work. Those elements in the social scene that served to present an idea of revolutionary progress were accentuated. One of the main writers in this style was Leon Kruczkowski (Kruczkowski, Leon), a pre-World War II communist and a prominent personality in the postwar communist establishment whose plays Niemcy (1949; “The Germans”) and Pierwszy dzień wolności (1960; “The First Day of Freedom”) were often performed in the 1950s. Kazimierz Brandys (Brandys, Kazimierz), whose development typifies postwar tendencies in Polish literature, published an epic-novel cycle, Między wojnami (1948–53; “Between the Wars”), and a Socialist Realist novel, Obywatele (1954; “Citizens”).

      Among writers of the period who eschewed political involvement were Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński, who combined lyricism with grotesque fantasy, and the reflective Mieczysław Jastrun (Jastrun, Mieczysław), who in later work—for example, the essay collection Mit śródziemnomorski (1962; “The Mediterranean Myth”)—moved toward Existentialism. Others who avoided Socialist Realism included Roman Catholic writers from the Tygodnik Powszechny (“Popular Weekly”) circle in Kraków, especially Antoni Gołubiew, author of the epic-novel cycle, Bolesław Chrobry (1947–54); prose writer and dramatist Jerzy Zawieyski; and historical novelist Hanna Malewska. Teodor Parnicki (Parnicki, Teodor) used a background of conflict between cultures for an analysis of contemporary problems in a series of experimental and semihistorical novels set mainly in the early Christian period: Koniec “Zgody Narodów” (1955; “End of the Covenant of Nations”), the six-volume Nowa baśń (1962–70; “A New Fairytale”), and others.

      The weakness of the Socialist Realist movement—its attempt to impose a political pattern on creative writing, its denial of themes arising from contemporary conflicts—resulted partly from the stranglehold of the Stalinist regime. In the period beginning in 1954–55, writers began to criticize these weaknesses and to oppose them. Andrzejewski (Andrzejewski, Jerzy), for example, presented contemporary ideas and problems in two novels combining historical and metaphorical treatment, Ciemności kryją ziemie (1957; The Inquisitors) and Bramy raju (1960; The Gates of Paradise), and Brandys criticized Stalinism in the novel Matka Królów (1957; “Mother of the Króls”; Eng. trans. Sons and Comrades).

      The political “thaw” that followed the rise of Nikita Khrushchev to leadership of the Soviet Union in 1953 and that became pronounced after Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalinism in early 1956 made it possible for writers to renew contacts with the West. This exchange brought about a period of development and experiment that was marked by an increase in satirical literature and by the use of the essay as a vehicle for philosophical and intellectual discussion and comment. Tadeusz Breza published Spiżowa brama (1960; “The Bronze Gate”), a keen description of life in the Vatican. Other writers continued to be concerned with World War II, as did Leopold Buczkowski in the novel Czarny potok (1954; Black Torrent), Roman Bratny in Kolumbowie-rocznik 20 (1957; “The Columbuses-Generation of 1920”), and Bohdan Czeszko in Tren (1961; “Threnody”). Tadeusz Konwicki (Konwicki, Tadeusz), like others, wrote of the consequences of wartime experience, notably in his Sennik współczesny (1963; A Dreambook for Our Time). His later novels Wniebowstąpienie (1967; “Ascension”) and Nic albo nic (1971; “Nothing or Nothing”) projected those themes on contemporary problems. In Głosy w ciemności (1956; “Voices in the Dark”) and Austeria (1966; “The Inn”), Julian Stryjkowski restated the Orthodox Jewish Polish community's feeling that the world has already ended and gave it universal application.

      A number of prewar Polish writers continued to publish: the poets Leopold Staff and Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna; Maria Dąbrowska, who enhanced her reputation with short stories in Gwiazda zaranna (1955; “Morning Star”) and with a series of critical essays on Joseph Conrad; the novelist Maria Kuncewiczowa; and the novelist, poet, and dramatist Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, who published the epic novel Sława i chwała (1956–62; “Fame and Glory”).

      Many writers of the late 1950s and the 1960s wrote fiction that dealt with the contemporary scene, ranging from the political novels of Jerzy Putrament (Putrament, Jerzy) to the satirical novels of manners by Stanisław Dygat. Works by science-fiction writer Stanisław Lem were translated into many languages. Kresy, a Polish term for the eastern Polish provinces that were lost to the Soviet Union in World War II, became the topic of novels by Andrzej Kuśniewicz (Strefy, 1971; “Spheres”), Włodzimierz Odojewski (Wyspa ocalenia, 1964; Island of Salvation), and many others. Young writers such as Marek Hłasko (who died young after some years spent abroad as an émigré writer) and Marek Nowakowski, in their search for a moral basis for life, often looked into the worlds of outcasts and misfits on the fringes of society. An interesting younger writer, Sławomir Mrożek (Mrożek, Sławomir), both in his plays—Policja (1958; “The Police”), Na pełnym morzu (1961; Out at Sea), Striptease (1962; Eng. trans. Striptease), and above all Tango (1964; Eng. trans. Tango), his most widely known work—and in his stories, collected in Słoń (1957; The Elephant), displayed an acute sense of satire and the grotesque, which he used to express a philosophy of life both topical and timeless. His comedy belonged partly to the Theatre of the Absurd and was distinguished by highly stylized language and subtle parody.

New trends in poetry and drama

      Poetry after 1956 was a vehicle for expressions of philosophical thought. The satirical poet Stanisław Jerzy Lec was noted for his skeptical philosophical aphorisms in Myśli nieuczesane (published in series from 1957; Unkempt Thoughts). Zbigniew Herbert (Herbert, Zbigniew), one of the outstanding 20th-century poets, distinguished himself with moralistic and metaphysical poems (many of them appearing in English translation in two volumes entitled Selected Poems, 1968 and 1977). The individual's entanglement in momentous 20th-century events dominated the intellectual, ironic poetry of Wisława Szymborska (Szymborska, Wisława), as evidenced in such volumes as Wołanie do Yeti (1957; “Calling Out to Yeti”), Sól (1962; “Salt”), and Miracle Fair (2001), the English translation of poems from several volumes. Poet Tadeusz Różewicz (Różewicz, Tadeusz) had a profound influence on his younger followers; from Niepokój (1947; “Faces of Anxiety”), his first collection, to Głos anonima (1961; “The Nameless Voice”), Różewicz's work was preoccupied with moral themes. He also wrote plays resembling those of Eugène Ionesco: Świadkowie albo nasza mała stabilizacja (1962; “The Witnesses, or Our Little Stabilization”; translated in The Witnesses and Other Plays), and one published with poems in Kartoteka (1961; The Card Index and Other Plays).

      The lyrical poetry of the generation of poets born about 1930 was characterized by a variety of aims and styles. The controversial work of such poets as Miron Białoszewski showed extreme experimentalism; on the other hand, a poet such as Ernest Bryll reasserted traditional poetic forms. Some poets—Tadeusz Nowak and Jerzy Harasymowicz, for example—turned for inspiration to the peasant culture; others—among them Jarosław M. Rymkiewicz, an outstanding translator of English and American poetry—based their poetic practice upon the example of T.S. Eliot (Eliot, T.S.), in a return to Baroque and classical forms, and developed an erudite, allusive poetry. Most representative of the poets of this generation is perhaps Stanisław Grochowiak, who created an expressive poetic style based on unexpected juxtapositions and a deliberate emphasis on the grotesque.

      Critics and essayists included Artur Sandauer, Kazimierz Wyka, Jan Błoński, Andrzej Kijowski, and Jan Kott, who immigrated to the United States and whose Szkice o Szekspirze (1961; Shakespeare, Our Contemporary) was widely translated and discussed. Leopold Tyrmand, a successful novelist, also immigrated to the United States, where he published a series of essays highly critical of communism.

      Political events in 1968—student riots, anti-Semitic campaigns, harsher censorship—forced a number of writers to emigrate and publish abroad. Émigré centres such as those in Paris played an increasing role in supporting the opposition and promoting literature free of censorship. Particularly important was the Institut Littéraire in France, headed by Jerzy Giedroyc. The Institut was the publisher of the literary monthly Kultura (1947–2000). (After 1989, when the communist system was abolished in Poland, writers and books circulated freely, but the role of émigré publishers in promoting Polish literature remained quite visible.) Among those writers who stayed in Poland, many, including Paweł Jasienica and Stefan Kisielewski, were temporarily blacklisted for their political views. Jasienica published a series of historical studies emphasizing Poland's liberal traditions, while Kisielewski used his magazine column to strongly criticize the political system. In the 1970s and early 1980s, social tensions, political upheavals, and economic crises dominated Polish life. Major civil unrest, in particular the workers' riots and strikes that led to the creation of the independent trade union Solidarity, encouraged writers to challenge the authorities and the official aesthetic. Censorship still forced many of them to publish abroad, but independent publishing houses emerged that allowed their works to be circulated in Poland. This opened the way for the works of hitherto proscribed foreign authors, such as George Orwell (Orwell, George), and émigré authors, such as Miłosz and Gombrowicz, to be published. Also available were books that analyzed the political situation and delved into the recesses of Polish life and history. Among the most important and widely discussed books of the period were Konwicki's novels Kompleks polski (1977; The Polish Complex) and Mała apokalipsa (1979; A Minor Apocalypse); Andrzejewski's long-suppressed novel Miazga (1981; “Pulp”); and the ironic reflections recorded in a monthly diary called Miesiące (1980; A Warsaw Diary 1978–1981) by Kazimierz Brandys, who left Poland in 1981. Also important were volumes of poetry and essays by Ryszard Krynicki and Stanisław Barańczak, who moved to the United States; the diaries of Gombrowicz; and two additional volumes of Zbigniew Herbert's poems, Pan Cogito (1974; “Mr. Cogito”; partially translated in Selected Poems), the poetic meditations of a kind of intellectual Everyman, and Raport z oblężonego miasta (1983; Report from the Besieged City).

      With the restoration of freedom after 1989, Polish literature's political influence diminished but its artistic values remained strong, as evinced by Wisława Szymborska's receipt of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996. Polish literature at the turn of the 21st century accommodated various literary trends. While many young writers escaped into realms of fantasy and abstraction, a trend toward realism resulted in outstanding novels such as Madame (1998; Eng. trans. Madame), by Antoni Libera, and Oksana (1999), by Włodzimierz Odojewski.

Julian Krzyżanowski Jerzy R. Krzyzanowski

Additional Reading

Czesław Miłosz, The History of Polish Literature, 2nd ed. (1983), is the best modern survey of Polish literature in English. Julian Krzyżanowski, A History of Polish Literature (1978; originally published in Polish, 1969), is also useful. Both contain extensive selected bibliographies of English translations. Manfred Kridl, A Survey of Polish Literature and Culture, trans. from Polish (1956; reprinted 1967), is a slightly dated but still informative work. Roman Dyboski, Modern Polish Literature (1924), a collection of lectures, retains its critical value.Marion Moore Coleman, Polish Literature in English Translation: A Bibliography (1963), though dated, is the most complete bibliography. A good bibliography for the theatre is Daniel Gerould et al. (compilers and eds.), Polish Plays in Translation: An Annotated Bibliography (1983). Other works of interest include Wacław Lednicki, Life and Culture of Poland as Reflected in Polish Literature (1944); W.J. Stankiewicz (ed.), The Tradition of Polish Ideals: Essays in History and Literature (1981); and Samuel Fiszman (ed.), The Polish Renaissance in Its European Context (1988). Tymon Terlecki (ed.), Literatura polska na obczyźnie, 1940–1960, 2 vol. (1964–65); and Maria Danilewicz Zielińska, Szkice o literaturze emigracyjnej (1978, reissued 1992), present Polish literature abroad. Also useful are Madeline G. Levine, Contemporary Polish Poetry 1925–1975 (1981); Bolesław Taborski, Polish Plays in English Translation: A Bibliography (1968); and Jerzy J. Maciuszko, The Polish Short Story in English: A Guide and Critical Bibliography (1968).Anthologies of texts include Bogdana Carpenter, Monumenta Polonica: The First Four Centuries of Polish Poetry—A Bilingual Anthology (1989); Michael J. Mikoś (trans.), Medieval Literature of Poland: An Anthology (1992); Michael J. Mikoś (ed. and trans.), Polish Literature from the Middle Ages to the End of the Eighteenth Century: A Bilingual Anthology (1999), Polish Renaissance Literature: An Anthology (1995), and Polish Baroque and Enlightenment Literature (1996); Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz et al., Twentieth-Century Polish Avant-Garde Drama: Plays, Scenarios, Critical Documents (1977), ed. and trans. by Daniel Gerould; Adam Gillon and Ludwik Krzyżanowski (eds.), Introduction to Modern Polish Literature: An Anthology of Fiction and Poetry, 2nd ed. (1982); Maria Kuncewiczowa (ed.), The Modern Polish Mind: An Anthology (1962), a collection of stories and essays; Celina Wieniewska (ed.), Polish Writing Today (1967); Jerzy Peterkiewicz and Burns Singer, Five Centuries of Polish Poetry, 1450–1970, 2nd ed. (1970, reprinted 1979); Czesław Miłosz (ed. and trans.), Postwar Polish Poetry: An Anthology, 3rd expanded ed. (1983); and Harold B. Segel (ed.), Polish Romantic Drama: Three Plays in English Translation (1977).A valuable guide to English-language anthologies is Michael J. Mikoś, “Bibliography of English Language Anthologies of Polish Literature,” The Polish Review, 39(3):371–80 (1994).Modern bibliographical guides in Polish are Julian Krzyżanowski et al. (eds.), Literatura polska: przewodnik encyklopedyczny, 2 vol. (1984); and Artur Hutnikiewicz and Andrzej Lam (eds.), Literatura polska XX wieku: przewodnik encyklopedyczny, 2 vol. (2000– ).Julian Krzyżanowski Jerzy R. Krzyzanowski

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