Occupation: Writer. Notes on the Polish Literary Field after 1989

The article is based on the analysis of the recent study Literatura polska po 1989 roku w świetle teorii Pierre’a Bourdieu. Raport z badań which deals with the diagnosis of 25 years of Polish literature by using Bourdieu’s theory. The article comments the results of the study as well as proposes wider perspective for the sociology of literature. The main question in the text relates to the condition of the literary field and its main actors which are writers. The autonomy of literary field postulated by Bourdieu has a problematic status in Polish literature after 1989. Similar problems affects the writer’s habitus which depends on market regulations and other non-literary aspects. In the conclusion the article concerns different possibilities of using such problematic condition of the literary field for future activities of certain actors of the field.
 

The article is based on the analysis of the recent study Literatura polska po 1989 roku w świetle teorii Pierre’a Bourdieu. Raport z badań which deals with the diagnosis of 25 years of Polish literature by using Bourdieu’s theory. The article comments the results of the study as well as proposes wider perspective for the sociology of literature. The main question in the text relates to the condition of the literary field and its main actors which are writers. The autonomy of literary field postulated by Bourdieu has a problematic status in Polish literature after 1989. Similar problems affects the writer’s habitus which depends on market regulations and other non-literary aspects. In the conclusion the article concerns different possibilities of using such problematic condition of the literary field for future activities of certain actors of the field.