Andrzej Kaliszewski

Zbigniew Herbert (1924–1998), valued as one of the most distinguished contemporary poets and essayists, in the communist times created the ‘upright attitude’ ethos which, among other things, meant uncompromising opposition to Marxism and the defence of univer-sal values. However, his vast, strictly journalistic work remains controversial and nearly unexplored, and includes, among many others, reviews, columns and articles published in the press 1950–1953 and 1981–1998. Filling the gap in the research is the aim of this arti-cle devoted to Herbert’s political journalistic writing (Tygodnik Solidarność weekly), to his open letters and interviews, pertaining to the transformation in Poland after The August of 1980 and to the, in his opinion unfulfilled, hopes of full democracy and decommunisation. Herbert’s radicalism in political journalism, attacking his once friends and the new power elite whom he accused of negligence and conformism, caused strong reactions going as far as arguments accusing Herbert of mental illness or alcoholism. The article argues for the necessity of an objective and emotion-free perception of Herbert’s political journalism, and of looking at it   in close connection with the constitutive characteristics of the genre itself (column), such as subjectivism, sharp sense of humour, expressive language and caricature. The research methods used include qualitative text analysis, the theory of journalistic genres and the media discourse analysis.

The origins of modern Polish reportage is closely related to the outbreak of the Great War (1914–1918). The world’s first mass scale armed conflict was also a particular challenge for writers, journalists and artists, who volunteered to fight in the ranks of the legions under the command of Józef Piłsudski. It was there that the following first reportage texts were written: 1/ Pierwsze Bitwy (The First Battles) by Gustaw Daniłowski – documenting the expedition to the Kingdom and the unsuccessful occupation of Kielce, and 2/ the series of Bitwa pod Konarami (The Battle of Konary) by Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski, describing the first big victories of the legionaries over the Russians alongside the Austrian and Hungarian armies. The genological analysis of these texts and the circumstances in which they were written were presented in view of their role in the idea of independence followed by the periodicals that were issued in Krakow at that time: “Nowa Reforma” (The New Reform) and “Ilustrowany Tygodnik Polski” (The Illustrated Polish Weekly) (the texts were published in both of them).

“4th Infantry Regiment (“Czwartacy”) way from Ostrowiec to Lithuania” by Władysław Orkan is one of the most valuable and interesting war reportages showing Polish war efforts in World War I, the legend of Polish Legions and commandant Piłsudski. Orkan was himself a flagbearer in the 4th Infantry Regiment called “Czwartacy”, and this experience allowed him to present a part of the successful Austro-German military campaign (with the participation of Polish Legions) against the Russian army in 1915. The battles of Majdan Borzechowski and Jastków marked this campaign.
This extensive reportage surprises us with the dynamic and diverse structure of battle scenes, realistic presentation of the everyday army life (i.e. in the spirit of human interest) as well as a careful and piercing observation of war effects concerning civilians, towns and villages, with their architecture and nature particularly. A disadvantage of the work is its excessive language dependence on Young Poland (Polish Neoromanticism) style.