''Kultura'' (, ''Culture'')—sometimes referred to as ''Kultura Paryska'' ("Paris-based Culture")—was a leading

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

-émigré literary-political magazine, published from 1947 to 2000 by ''Instytut Literacki'' (the Literary Institute), initially in Rome and then in Paris. It was edited and produced by

Jerzy Giedroyc Jerzy Władysław Giedroyc (; 27 July 1906 – 14 September 2000) was a Polish writer and political activist and for many years editor of the highly influential Paris-based periodical, ''Kultura''. Early life Giedroyć was born into a Polish-Li ...

and ceased publication upon his death. Giedroyc was one of the main reasons why ''Kultura'' enjoyed an unwavering prestige and a constant stream of esteemed contributors that enabled it to play a prominent role in Polish literary life. ''Kultura'' published polemics and articles, including those by Nobel Prize for Literature laureates

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz (, also , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. Regarded as one of the great poets of the 20th century, he won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature. In its citation ...

and Wisława Szymborska, as well as works by numerous other authors. Literary critics such as

Maria Janion Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

Wojciech Karpiński Wojciech Karpiński (11 May 1943 – 18 August 2020) was a Polish writer, historian of ideas and literary critic. Life Wojciech Karpiński was born on 11 May 1943 in Warsaw, the son of the architect Zbigniew Karpiński and a grandson of ...

Jan Kott Jan Kott (October 27, 1914 – December 22, 2001) was a Polish political activist, critic and theoretician of the theatre. A leading proponent of Stalinism in Poland for nearly a decade after the Soviet takeover, Kott renounced his Communist P ...

, and

Ryszard Nycz Ryszard () is the Polish equivalent of "Richard", and may refer to: *Ryszard Andrzejewski (born 1976), Polish rap musician, songwriter and producer *Ryszard Bakst (1926–1999), Polish and British pianist and piano teacher of Jewish/Polish/Russian ...

also contributed. ''Kultura'' was and continues to be essential reading for students of Polish literature. Over the years it printed, and popularised the names of, many leading Polish writers and posts living under Communism and as anti-communist political refugees throughout the Polish diaspora, such as

Gustaw Herling-Grudziński Gustaw Herling-Grudziński (; May 20, 1919 − July 4, 2000) was a Polish writer, journalist, essayist, World War II underground fighter, and political dissident abroad during the communist system in Poland. He is best known for writing a personal ...

, Witold Gombrowicz,

Marek Hłasko Marek Hłasko (14 January 1934 – 14 June 1969) was a Polish author and screenwriter. Life Hłasko's biography is highly mythologized, and many of the legends about his life he spread himself. Marek was born in Warsaw, as the only son of ...

Juliusz Mieroszewski Juliusz Mieroszewski (; 2 February 1906 – 21 June 1976) was a Polish journalist, publicist and political commentator. He wrote under the pseudonyms "J. Calveley" and "Londyńczyk" (''Londoner''). He was born in Kraków. In interwar Poland he ...

, Józef Czapski, Konstanty Jeleński, and Bogdan Czaykowski. ''Kultura'' also played a major role in Poland's reconciliation with Ukraine, Belarus and

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, as the first independent Polish intellectual circle to openly advocate, in the 1950s, recognizing Poland's postwar eastern borders. This involved renouncing Poland's claims to

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

to a future independent Ukraine, and to Wilno to a future independent

. ''Kultura'' furthermore had a major role in Ukrainian literature publishing through the major work ''

The Executed Renaissance ''The Executed Renaissance, An Anthology, 1917–1933: Poetry, prose, drama and essay'' ( uk, «Розстріляне відродження: Антологія 1917—1933: Поезія—проза—драма—есей») is an anthology of ...

'', published by Ukrainian writer Yurii Lavrinenko with the support of Giedroyc. This book featured work by prominent Ukrainian writers and poets from the early period of Soviet Ukraine who were later arrested and executed in the 1930s. The concept of supporting the independence of Poland's eastern neighbors, elaborated by

and known as ''ULB'' (" Ukraine,

, Belarus")—and inspired by Józef Piłsudski's Interbellum Prometheist policy—has had a major influence on Poland's foreign policies since 1989.

References

Paryska "Kultura" website
at Portal Onet
Arts and Humanities, at www.intute.ac.uk

Paryska "Kultura" homepage

References

External links