What is it about?
In his early twenties Marek Hłasko (1934-1969), an ‘angry young man’ and a rare ‘authentic’ working-class voice, became the great literary hope of the Polish Communist Party. In the space of a few months, and at a crucial moment in post-war Polish history, he made his literary debut, published two books, received the Polish State Literary Prize and instantly became a popular youth-hero and celebrity rebel. But just as rapidly he became an exile, an outcast and a pariah.
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Why is it important?
Hlasko's life and his writing are of one piece: his career trajectory illustrates how the Party could operate to promote writers it favoured, but to block and isolate those who opposed it. Although little known in the west Hlasko's work has recently begun to appear in translation, allowing us a unique insight into the early years of Polish communism.
Perspectives
Hlasko was an energetic, often brutally realistic writer whose career, after being fostered by the Party, came to an abrupt halt when he began to show the kind of place Poland was becoming under communism. As a friend and contemporary of the composer Komeda and the film maker Polanski, he was part of a generation that grew up knowing only communism, but who nevertheless felt obliged to say they were not satisfied with the life on offer
Prof Carl Tighe
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Marek Hłasko – working-class hero, Journal of European Studies, April 2018, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0047244118767817.
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