CULTURE
One of the major cultural contributions of Poland to the world
has been its literature. The earliest writings in Polish date from the 15th
century, though Poles were writing in Latin at an earlier date. Most of this
early literature was religious in nature. One of the first writers to use Polish
exclusively was Mikolaj Rej (1505-69), who wrote poetry and prose.
The literature of the 18th century showed the influence of
contacts with Western Europe. The first major Polish woman writer,
ElZbieta DruZbacka, appeared at this time. The establishment
of a national theater in Warsaw in 1765 encouraged a number of
dramatists such as Wojciech Boguslawski and Franciszek Zablocki.
Aleksander Fredro wrote popular comedies.
The Romantic period of the early 19th century produced some
of Poland's greatest poets, of whom the most famous was Adam
Mickiewicz. Much of his work was written in exile in Russia,
including his great national epic, 'Pan Tadeusz' (1834). Other
poets and dramatists of the period were Juliusz Slowacki, Zygmunt
Krasinski, and Cyprian Norwid.
At the end of the 19th century writers emerged such as Aleksander
Glowacki, a supporter of realism who wrote under the name Boleslaw
Prus, and Henryk Sienkiewicz, whose novel 'Quo Vadis?' (1896)
became internationally famous. Sienkiewicz also wrote novels
about heroic periods in Poland's past. In the early 20th century
a notable writer was Wladyslaw Reymont, whose four-volume novel
'The Peasants' (1902-09) achieved worldwide fame. Reymont and
Sienkiewicz both won Nobel prizes in literature. Stefan zeromski
wrote novels, stories, and plays, while Stanislaw Wyspianski
was a playwright.
During the period between World Wars I and II, a number of
talented writers appeared. The most notable were the poets Julian
Tuwim and Kazimierz Wierzynski and the novelists Maria Dabrowska,
Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz, and Jan Parandowski. With the establishment
of the Communist regime after World War II, political controls
were imposed on writers. Many began to follow socialist models.
In spite of these restrictions some writers of note appeared.
Jerzy Andrzejewski achieved recognition for his novel 'Ashes
and Diamonds'. Some writers, such as Marek Hlasko, wrote pessimistic
novels about Polish life, while Slawomir MroZek went into exile
in 1968 rather than continue writing in Poland. Czeslaw Milosz
won the Nobel prize for literature in 1980 (see Milosz). Stanislaw
Lem gained fame abroad for his science-fiction stories. Later
writers were able to work under less pressure, and an underground
press helped to circulate widely their writings and ideas.
