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Kultura (Polish pronunciation: [kulˈtura], Culture)—sometimes referred to as Kultura Paryska ("Paris-based Culture")—was a leading Polish-émigré literary-political magazine, published from 1947 to 2000 by Instytut Literacki (the Literary Institute), initially in Rome, then Paris.
It was edited and produced by Jerzy Giedroyc 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 laureates Czesław Miłosz and Wisława Szymborska, as well as works by numerous other authors. Literary critics such as Maria Janion, Wojciech Karpiński, Jan Kott, and Ryszard Nycz also contributed. Kultura was and continues to be essential reading for students of Polish literature. Over the years it printed, and popularized the names of, many leading Polish intellectuals living under Communism and abroad, such as Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, Witold Gombrowicz, Marek Hłasko, Juliusz Mieroszewski, Józef Czapski, Konstanty Jeleński, and Bogdan Czaykowski.
Kultura played a major role in Poland's reconciliation with Ukraine, Belarus and 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 in favor of a future independent Ukraine, and to Wilno in favor of a future independent Lithuania.
The concept of supporting the independence of Poland's eastern neighbors, elaborated by Juliusz Mieroszewski and known as ULB ("Ukraine, Lithuania, 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
External links
- A guide to the Konstanty Jeleński Papers at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- A guide to the Olga Scherer-Virski Papers at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- A guide to the Witold Gombrowicz Archive at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library