Mira Rosenthal

Examining the ideological underpinnings of the anthology Postwar Polish
Poetry, this article considers the impact of Czesław Miłosz’s translatory choices on the
rise in popularity of Polish poetry in English translation in the 1960s and its infl uence
on contemporary American poetry. Postwar Polish Poetry by and large introduced
Polish literature to the Anglophone audience. The analysis of the paratext (translator’s
preface, author biographies, jacket copy) and the translations foregrounds Miłosz’s
translatorial, poetological, historical, and political concerns. The article focuses on
delineating the anthology’s role in shaping the historiography of Polish poetry for the
Anglophone reader and touches on the political commentary embedded in Miłosz’s
poetological choices. The overwhelmingly positive reception of the anthology reveals,
in turn, the needs of American poets during the political upheaval of the 1960s to seek
poetry outside their own tradition. Finally, the article argues that the subtleties of the
anthology’s framing of Polish poetry cannot be overlooked, for it continues to exert
infl uence on the canon of Polish literature as it develops in English translation.

CZESŁAW MIŁOSZ’S POLISH SCHOOL OF POETRY IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Examining the ideological underpinnings of Czesław Miłosz’s anthology Postwar Polish Poetry, this paper considers the impact of his translatorial choices on the rise in popularity of Polish poetry in English translation in the 1960s and its infl uence on contemporary American poetry. Postwar Polish Poetry by and large introduced Polish literature to the Anglophone audience. By analyzing the paratext (translator’s preface, author biographies, jacket copy) and translations for the anthology, Miłosz’s translatorial, poetological, historical, and political concerns come to the fore. This paper focuses on delineating the anthology’s role in shaping the historiography of Polish poetry for the Anglophone reader and touches on the political commentary embedded in Miłosz’s poetological choices. The overwhelmingly positive reception of the anthology in turn reveals the needs of American poets during the political upheaval of the 1960s, during which time they often turned to poetry outside their own tradition. Finally, this paper argues that the subtleties of the anthology’s framing of Polish poetry cannot be overlooked, for it continues to exert infl uence on the canon of Polish literature as it develops in English translation.