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Freedom and Possession in the Letters of Andrzej Bobkowski

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Freedom and Possession in the Letters of Andrzej Bobkowski ACTA UNIVERSITATIS LODZIENSIS FOLIA LITTERARIA POLONICA 7(45) 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/1505-9057.45.08 Józef maria Ruszar* Freedom and possession in the letters of Andrzej Bobkowski The title of my study, which utilises the pungent vocabulary of the author of Szkice piórkiem, uses the so-called male manner to refer to the existential is- sue which was fundamental for Bobkowski, i.e. one’s retention of one’s freedom founded on material independence, and achieved through one’s own work. In one of his letters, he noted: “At any time of the day I can look into a mirror […] and say: you haven’t become a fuck-up one bit.”1 Which constitutes a statement, a life’s motto, and an economic programme all in one. As a result, the writer’s idea fixe consisted of a change from the status of a political emigre to the situa- tion of an economic migrant, or at least that was the conclusion drawn by Andrzej Stanisław Kowalczyk2, against which one cannot argue with the reservation that it does not mean in any way that he lost his right or even his duty to remain politi- cally engaged in the struggle for Poland’s freedom. Any arrangements with communism or any other totalitarian system were out of the question, though the allowed methods of writers’ influence on readers in the captive Poland evolved in the writer’s mind, and in the 1940s, Bobkowski published in the Tygodnik Powszechny weekly and in other domestic periodicals, but he did not publish after the introduction of Socialist realism. Also the existence of censorship after the so-called thaw of 1956 was the reason why Bobkowski did not agree for domestic reprints, which, actually, was the cause of his conflict with Giedroyc as maison-Laffitte was of the opinion that any opportunity to cross the Iron Curtain was beneficial to the struggle to break the communist monopoly in Poland. Interestingly enough, in his argument, the writer emphasised not only the * Dr, e-mail: [email protected]; Department of media and Communication, Fa- culty of Philosophy, Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow, 31-501 Krakow, 26 Kopernika street. 1 A fragment of a letter to W. Jekiel dated 10 Dec 1948, a representative of the Contemporary Literature Club (Klub Literatury Współczesnej) established by the students of Polish studies at the University of Warsaw (as cited in “Wstęp” by A.S. Kowalczyk to: Andrzej Bobkowski – Aniela Mieczysławska. Listy 1951–1961, Biblioteka „Więzi”, Warsaw 2010, p. 19). [English version trans- lated from Polish]. 2 Ibid., p. 19. 156 Józef maria Ruszar political subjugation due to the fact of becoming dependant on the decisions of the communist authorities, but also the attempt at, on the one hand, making emigre writers dependent economically, and, on the other, exerting financial pressure on them. That mode of thinking in which freedom was closely related to its economic guarantees understood as financial independence was probably the most distinc- tive mental characteristic of Bobkowski. I shall attempt to trace it using several examples. Against the concept of Romantic emigration The status of a writer, which defines his particular situation, must be the first basic ascertainment or a starting point for a discussion. Such a starting point in the case of Bobkowski was the fact of his being an emigre, and an emigre writer. Contrary to what they may seem, those terms are not clear, and must be made more precise as, apparently, the author of Szkice piórkiem himself made the issue both more precise and complicated. The notion of a “Cosmopole” (Kosmopolak) proposed by Bobkowski, and its divergence from the classic role of emigration, has been discussed thoroughly in professional literature, so only to recapitulate let me state that it creates a some- what ironic situation because formally the so-called soldier emigration after WWII was dominated by the notion of steadfast political emigration, yet in prac- tice it was impossible to fulfil it. Thousands of former Polish Armed Forces sol- diers in the West were forced to become economic migrants because after a very short period of hope for WWIII, to maintain any military units in battle-ready condition was out of the question. Therefore, against the statement that the essence of political emigration was the active disputing of the post-WWII status quo, life forced assimilation in the country of emigration, not an existence rooted in a future of a dreamt up motherland which in some way, e.g. through an armed confrontation between the West and the East, would regain independence. A missionary life could only be indulged in by very few people, more precisely: creative individuals, i.e. writ- ers, journalists in emigre journals, the few people engaged in cultural projects, and a small group of professional politicians gathered in emigre organisations or around the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile. The rest could only fulfil the political or material support function for the emigration elite. Thus, the dispute between Bobkowski and the dominant emigration ideology only applied to the mode of existence of that elite, not the emigrants en masse as most of them – like the author of Z dziennika podróży – took up work in the countries of emi- gration. Freedom and possession in the letters of Andrzej Bobkowski 157 But Bobkowski was a writer, and his concept applied to the mode of life of an emigration artist or intellectual. At the same time, Tymon Terlecki, whose opinion could be considered as binding, wrote that “emigration is essentially […] Romantic, idealistic. Emigration reaches outside the existing reality, and aspires to another reality.”3 Such a split reality, where at the level of a political evalu- ation of the situation it was absolutely justified, could not possibly be accepted by Bobkowski at the level of his personal life’s strategy as he believed that only the personal achievements of a Cosmopole, i.e. a Pole who grew into the com- munity to which he emigrated, would matter for the evaluation of an individual accomplished life, but it would also strengthen the political power of emigration as a whole. However, both the concept and the perfect notion of life stemmed not only from his “anarchistic inclinations” and “life’s grit” views, but also from a certain vision of freedom which according to Bobkowski was an illusion or self-decep- tion if it was not founded in economic independence. material security guaran- teed freedom, as well as autonomy from the favour of English-American allies, which I shall discuss later on. In that sense, the Cosmopole was a citizen of the world who did not become a burden for the country of emigration but a valuable citizen, and if, additionally, he was a talented individual, e.g. an artist, then – like Chopin or Conrad – he could support the so-called Polish cause with his success because, paradoxically, the fact of placing “universal issues” and not “the Polish cause” in the forefront, gave a Polish emigre artist an opportunity to become suc- cessful, or even to have some influence on public opinion.4 Considering the fact that the term Cosmopole is not always understood based on its entire content, it is worth noting that when Bobkowski defined himself, and summed up his achievements towards to the end of his life, he also stressed his influence on the indigenous people: Therefore, per saldo, this is, per saldo, a very happy man writing to you. I even sometimes get to feel like Sobieski at Vienna. I handled everything, I built a new life out of nothing here, a free life, full of freedom, I acquired people’s respect, I have already raised an entire crowd of young people for whom the notion of “Polish com- munity” is not a set of empty sounds. They learnt about it through me as much as it was possible. Somewhere, some time, it might come in handy.5 3 T. Terlecki, “Emigracja walki”, Wiadomości 1946, issue 2, as cited in: A.S. Kowalczyk, “Wstęp”, p. 19. 4 That concept was presented emphatically in an article entitled “Biografia wielkiego Kosmo- polaka”, Kultura 1960, issue 9/155; http://static.kulturaparyska.com/attachments/cb/b0/4389fdd1e f03ab9dd13faf07db8cccde93451e83.pdf#page=11 (accessed on 28.11.2015). 5 A. Bobkowski, Listy do Jerzego Turowicza 1947–1960, m. Urbanowski (ed.), Biblioteka „Więzi”, Warsaw 2013, p. 112. [English version translated from Polish]. 158 Józef maria Ruszar The fact that those words were written by a person facing impending and expected death was important. It is also noteworthy that the letter was addressed to Jerzy Turowicz, at that time editor-in-chief of Tygodnik Powszechny, while some expressions resembled the famous confession of St. Paul, which begins with: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7; Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.) At this point it is worth noting that both the explicite expressed opinions as the provided examples of the implemented attitude of the Cosmopole (Conrad as a particular model) emphasise not only economic independence but also its ingraining in the world in which he lived in exile. Bobkowski believed that Ter- lecki’s formulation, with which he entered into a polemic, was a schizophrenic model, which also remained in conflict with life, thus being demoralising.6 No wonder, then, that in his letters to Giedroyc, and to other addressees, he so often described the process of his growing into the local community: “I am growing roots here, a thousand problems essential to me, philistine in nature, seem to you […] meaningless […] But I, […] despite everything, am trying to return myself to that NORMAL LIFE, which throughout the years I managed to forget […]”7.
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