''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 * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

-émigré literary-political magazine, published from 1947 to 2000 by ''Instytut Literacki'' (the Literary Institute), initially in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and then in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. It was edited and produced by

Jerzy Giedroyc Jerzy Władysław Giedroyć (; 27 July 1906 – 14 September 2000) was a Polish writer, lawyer, publicist and political activist. For many years, he worked as editor of the highly influential Paris-based periodical, '' Kultura''. Early life Gi ...

and ceased publication upon his death.

History

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 The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in t ...

laureates

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz ( , , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. He primarily wrote his poetry in Polish language, Polish. Regarded as one of the great poets of the ...

and

Wisława Szymborska Maria Wisława Anna SzymborskaVioletta Szostagazeta.pl, 9 February 2012. ostęp 11 February 2012 (; 2 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a Polish people, Polish poet, essayist, translator, and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Liter ...

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

Maria Janion Maria Janion (24 December 1926 – 23 August 2020) was a Polish scholar, literary theorist and critic, as well as a feminist. She was a professor at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, specialising in literary Ro ...

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 ...

, and Ryszard Nycz also contributed. ''Kultura'' was and continues to be essential reading for students of

Polish literature Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Latin, ...

. Over the years it printed, and popularised the names of, many leading Polish writers and poets living under communism and as anti-communist political refugees throughout the

Polish diaspora The Polish diaspora comprises Polish people, Poles and people of Polish heritage or origin who live outside Poland. The Polish diaspora is also known in modern Polish language, Polish as ''Polonia'', the name for Poland in Latin and many Romance la ...

, 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 period of Soviet and communist rule. He is best known for writing ...

Witold Gombrowicz Witold Marian Gombrowicz (August 4, 1904 – July 24, 1969) was a Polish writer and playwright. His works are characterised by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and absurd, anti-nationalism, anti-nationalist flavor. In 1937, ...

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 M ...

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 Józef Czapski (3 April 1896 – 12 January 1993) was a Polish artist, author, and critic, as well as an officer of the Polish Army. As a painter, he is notable for his membership in the '' Kapist'' movement, which was heavily influenced by Céza ...

Konstanty Jeleński Konstanty Aleksander Jeleński (2 January 1922 – 4 May 1987) was a Polish essayist. Biography Konstanty Aleksander Jeleński (in French: Constantin Jelenski) was born on 2 January 1922 in Warsaw, Poland. He died on 4 May 1987 in Paris, France. ...

, and

Bogdan Czaykowski Bogdan Czaykowski (1932 – d. 2007) was a Polish Canadian poet, essayist, literary translator and literary critic, professor emeritus and former Dean at the University of British Columbia. Czaykowski was born in Równe, Poland. In 1940 his famil ...

. ''Kultura'' also played a major role in Poland's reconciliation with

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, 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 ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

to a future independent

, and to

Wilno Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

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'' () is an anthology of works by Ukrainian poets and prosaists of the 1920s and 1930s. The term's origin is attributed to the Ukrainian émigré and literary c ...

'', 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'' ("

")—and inspired by

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

Interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

Prometheist policy—has had a major influence on Poland's foreign policies since 1989.

History

See also

References

External links