Polish Writers’ Union in the cultural policy of Poland (1949–1953)
Abstract
After the end of World War II, the Polish authorities were interested in the participation of the intelligentsia in the postwar transformations. The very fact of the presence of famous figures in the public space gave communists and their allies legitimacy, and they did not directly interfere in the artistic process and did not require writers to declare their ideological positions. The situation changed in 1949, when the leadership of the Polish Republic announced the building of socialism, that also affected the cultural policy. It was stated that its main goal is the formation of a new person with a socialist worldview. An important role in its implementation was assigned to the creative intelligentsia, primarily writers. They were supposed to become engineers of the human souls and form a new system of values in society. The autorities began to use art unions as a means of influencing and controlling the artists. Moreover, at that time the state had taken control of publishing houses and book distribution. The article shows that the Polish Writers’ Union was actively involved in the process of forming a socialist worldview in Polish society. It acted as a translator of the state order and at the same time controlled the creative work of writers, carried out ideological work with them. Since 1949, the authorities began to demand a new, socialist content of fiction literature, which should be written in accordance with socialist realism. The writers were supposed to promote the new state system and develop the socialist consciousness in Polish society. Control over the content and its compliance with the state standards was carried out through censorship, discussions in artistic sections and at congresses of the Polish Writers’ Union, at meetings of writers who were members of the Polish United Workers’ Party, and meetings of various cultural comissious in party and state structures. At the same time, the author mentions that there were some writers who didn’t agree with the role of propagandists. It is noted that the appearance of socialist realist literature in Poland during the period under review testified to the realisation one of the tasks of the cultural policy of the Polish authorities.
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