The Communist Authorities and the „Social-Political Book” in Poland, 1956–1989

Abstract

The article deals with the way the Communist authorities in Poland approached the issue of the so called “social-political” literature. The analysis is chiefl y based on the archival materials assembled in the Fond: Central Committee, Polish United Workers’ Party, kept at the Central Archives of Modern Records in Warsaw, on the documents from the Russian State Archive of Contemporary Hi story in Moscow, and on the professional press. The major aspects analysed are: the concept of “social-political” literature; propaganda measures undertaken by the Communist authorities to proliferate this type of reading (with special emphasis on the Festival of the Social-Political Book during the years 1967–1989); characteristics of instruments developed by the Communist party dedicated to disseminating the reading of “social-political” literature (party commissions, the Council for the Social-Political Book affiliated with the Central Committee of the Communist party); the canon of “social-political” literature, and its constant and changeable elements; influence of the Kremlin on “social-political” publications in Poland.