%0 Journal Article
%T The Most Intimate Longing – Poland in the Correspondence of Józef Czapski
%A Bielak, Agnieszka
%J Konteksty Kultury
%V 2021
%R 10.4467/23531991KK.21.016.13694
%N Volume 18 Issue 2
%P 232-244
%K Józef Czapski, patriotism, emigration, Poland
%@ 2083-7658
%D 2021
%U https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/konteksty-kultury/article/najbardziej-intymna-tesknota-polska-w-korespondencji-jozefa-czapskiego
%X The article discusses Józef Czapski’s patriotism as reflected in his correspondence. The appropriate context is provided with the use of the artist’s interviews, journal entries, and essays. In Czapski’s case, his deeply internalised sense of Polishness was a conscious and consistently implemented choice, taken despite the fact that many other doors were open to the heir to an aristocratic family with broad European connections. Letters written by Czapski to various people show, on the one hand, a strong emotional bond with Poland, ad­ditionally strengthened by the distance forced by emigration and exile and by the memory of those who gave their lives for the country (Katyn), and on the other hand – almost positivist involvement in the service to the Paris-based “Kultura”, seen as working for the benefit of the homeland.