The confused censor. GUKPPiW after Polish October

Abstract

The article presents censorial reviews of two books published in 1958 by Iskry – Jej perypetie by Bohdan Korewicki and Skradzione głowy by Tadeusz Unkiewicz – as well as Centralny zarząd kłamstwa by Marek Domański, a novel suppressed by censorship. Although the first work was considered the effect of the author’s graphomania and called “rubbish” by two censors, it appeared in print; the second received divergent evaluations. The last finally gained the censors’ approval; however, it could not be published because of the harsh critique of socialist realism and the work’s explicitly critical nature. All three books are placed on the border of grotesque, but Domański created – as it is claimed in the reviews – realistic grotesque with satirical features whereas Korewicki and Unkiewicz offered fictional grotesque (in the case of Unkiewicz’s novel it was close to science fiction). Although the novels do not deserve to be remembered (obviously, it is impossible to assess the literary value of Domański’s work), the censorial reviews seem to be noteworthy as demonstrative documentation.