Literature, Translation and Circulation in Cross-National Action to Surmount Censorship in Communist Poland

The article explores the ideological use of translation and circulation of narrative works in and outside communist Poland. It begins from surveying official censorship in post-war Poland with its exclusions and inclusions and some of their consequences, including national culture becoming split into three branches: official, émigré and clandestine. Then it delves into the ways in which Polish post-war culture strove to overcome the official cultural proscriptions and prescriptions abroad and underground through translations, prints and distribution. It focuses in particular on an aspect that made such action possible: international collaborations both across the West and across the Iron Curtain. In doing so, the article explores such questions as the use of literary exclusions and inclusions in state culture with a view to constructing ideological cohesion, the use of culture and literature for identity and community preservation, the potential of literary exclusions to generate counteraction such as by organised networks and the use of translation and circulation of narrative works to question and broaden imposed boundaries.