Publication: Haciendo historia: autopercepciones y visión del pasado de la inteligencja polaca en la oposición (1976-1991)
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2016-02-10
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Faraldo Jarillo, José M.
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Universidad Complutense de Madrid
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Abstract
En la presente investigación doctoral proponemos estudiar la relación entre intelectualidad, oposición política al comunismo y pensamiento histórico a través del caso de la República Popular de Polonia entre los años 1976 y 1991. En concreto, analizamos cómo los opositores intelectuales polacos interpretaron el pasado de su país en sus publicaciones y la forma en que su visión de la historia y de sí mismos como inteligencja influyeron, a su vez, en su percepción del presente y del futuro. Desde las coordenadas marcadas por la historia intelectual, hemos tomado en consideración aspectos teóricos relacionados con los conceptos de mito, inteligencja y oposición. Además, planteamos una interpretación de los trabajos históricos de los intelectuales polacos a la luz de las tesis de Walter Benjamin Sobre el concepto de historia y sugerimos que, en ocasiones, se produce un fenómeno que hemos denominado historización del tiempo presente. Por último, definimos el tipo de fuentes escritas y gráficas utilizadas en la investigación y precisamos algunos términos básicos vinculados con las publicaciones opositoras de los años setenta y ochenta en Polonia. En su empeño por saber cómo enfrentarse a un poder represivo e ilegítimo, los intelectuales opositores volvieron su mirada hacia la historia en busca de inspiración y consejo, además de para justificar sus puntos de vista. Intentando estar a la altura de la misión mítica de la inteligencja, basada en el compromiso social y el liderazgo moral y político, recuperaron y reconsideraron ideales, valores transhistóricos o métodos, toda vez que advirtieron en contra de la recreación de ideologías políticas pretéritas en la actualidad. Consideraban que lo que unía a los polacos como nación era una tradición de comportamientos éticos procedentes de diversas fuentes, apostaban por distinguir entre patriotismo y nacionalismo y recurrían al antagonismo maniqueo tanto entre la nación y el aparato del Estado, como entre aquélla y la ideología comunista soviética. Por otra parte, percibían a la sociedad polaca a lo largo del tiempo en términos de adquisición, pérdida y recuperación de su condición de sujeto histórico-político (podmiotowość). También reflexionaron sobre las complejas relaciones de sus compatriotas con Rusia-la URSS y Occidente, entendidas como la visión del otro y una búsqueda de responsabilidades morales y, por tanto, como una parte más de su propia identidad colectiva. Todo ello propició una percepción del paso del tiempo basada en la fusión de imágenes cíclicas y lineales, así como un gran interés por los elementos pioneros de las protestas y los movimientos de oposición al comunismo. Esto, a su vez, estimuló la conciencia histórica y la historización del tiempo presente, que se aprecian en los discursos sobre la (in)capacidad de cambiar el curso de los acontecimientos, el dilema entre poder y responsabilidad en la toma de decisiones y el tema de la posteridad, así como en la recolección, escritura y publicación masiva de documentos relacionados con actividades opositoras, última cuestión que estudiamos en nuestro trabajo. En conclusión, los discursos sobre el pasado permitieron a los intelectuales polacos críticos definirse a sí mismos y a la nación en oposición al régimen comunista, influyeron en la percepción del presente y del futuro de los opositores hasta el punto de engendrar formas de razonamiento y acción específicas, y tenían la intención de unir, liberar e infundir valor a la sociedad polaca a fin de alcanzar la libertad, la independencia y la democracia. En definitiva, con sus reflexiones sobre la historia y el tiempo, los intelectuales de la oposición polaca que hemos estudiado en este trabajo ofrecieron en 1976-1991 una relectura crítica sobre cómo habían sido, eran y podían llegar a ser los polacos como nación, y retomaron la misión mítica y prometeica de la inteligencja de guiar a su país en tiempos difíciles, conduciéndolo hacia días mejores.
NOTA 520 8 The present Ph.D. dissertation aims to study the relation between intelligentsia, political opposition to Communism and historical thought in People’s Republic of Poland between 1976 and 1991. We specifically try to answer the following questions: firstly, how did Polish opposition intellectuals approach their country’s past in their writings? And, secondly, how did their perception of history plus their self-perception as inteligencja influence, in turn, their view of the present and the future? Taking intellectual history as the starting point, we consider theoretical aspects related to the concepts of myth, inteligencja and opposition, suggest an interpretation of Polish intellectuals’ historical reflections and works in the light of Walter Benjamin’s theses On the Concept of History and, in addition, propose that a phenomenon we have christened as historicization of present time sometimes took place within them. Lastly, we define the genre and thematic criteria used to select our written and graphic sources and pin down the different terms one should be familiar with when approaching Polish opposition publications in the 1970s and 1980s, like publicystyka, drugi obieg (that is, underground publishing), samizdat and tamizdat. In their determination to know how they should confront a repressive and illegitimate power, intellectual oppositionists turned to history for inspiration and guidance, as well as to justify their views. Trying to keep up with inteligencja’s mythical mission of social commitment plus moral and political leadership, they recovered and revised ideals, transhistorical values or methods, while advising against the recreation of past political ideologies in the present. They believed that what drew Poles together as a nation was a tradition of ethical behaviors coming from different sources (Western-European values, Catholicism and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), wanted to distinguish nationalism (destructive) from patriotism (constructive) and resorted to a Manichaean antagonism both between the nation and the State apparatus and between the former and Soviet Communist ideology. On the other hand, they regarded Polish society throughout time in terms of its acquisition, loss and retrieval of historical and political agency (podmiotowość). Similarly, they pondered as well on the complex relationships of their fellow countrymen with Russia/the USSR and the West, understood as a question of “otherness” plus a search for moral accountability and, hence, as another indispensable part of their own collective identity. All this fostered a perception of time based on the blend of cyclic and lineal images of the past and on a keen interest in the pioneering aspects of Polish protests and opposition movements. In turn, this stimulated historical awareness and historicization of present time, which can be appreciated in inteligencja’s discourses about the (in)capability to change the course of events, the dilemma between power and responsibility in decisionmaking and the question of posterity, as well as in the massive gathering, writing and publication of documents related to opposition activities, to which we devote the last part of our work. To sum up, discourses on the past enabled Polish critical intellectuals to define themselves and their nation in opposition to the communist regime, influenced oppositionists’ perception of the present and the future to the point of engendering specific forms of reasoning and action and had the purpose of uniting, “liberating” and emboldening Polish society in order to achieve freedom, independence and democracy. 6 In conclusion, with their reflections on history and time, the Polish opposition intellectuals we have approached in this dissertation offered back in 1976-1991 a personal and critical approach as to who Poles had been, were and could become as a nation, and resumed inteligencja’s mythical, Promethean mission of guiding their country towards better days in moments of hardship.
NOTA 520 8 The present Ph.D. dissertation aims to study the relation between intelligentsia, political opposition to Communism and historical thought in People’s Republic of Poland between 1976 and 1991. We specifically try to answer the following questions: firstly, how did Polish opposition intellectuals approach their country’s past in their writings? And, secondly, how did their perception of history plus their self-perception as inteligencja influence, in turn, their view of the present and the future? Taking intellectual history as the starting point, we consider theoretical aspects related to the concepts of myth, inteligencja and opposition, suggest an interpretation of Polish intellectuals’ historical reflections and works in the light of Walter Benjamin’s theses On the Concept of History and, in addition, propose that a phenomenon we have christened as historicization of present time sometimes took place within them. Lastly, we define the genre and thematic criteria used to select our written and graphic sources and pin down the different terms one should be familiar with when approaching Polish opposition publications in the 1970s and 1980s, like publicystyka, drugi obieg (that is, underground publishing), samizdat and tamizdat. In their determination to know how they should confront a repressive and illegitimate power, intellectual oppositionists turned to history for inspiration and guidance, as well as to justify their views. Trying to keep up with inteligencja’s mythical mission of social commitment plus moral and political leadership, they recovered and revised ideals, transhistorical values or methods, while advising against the recreation of past political ideologies in the present. They believed that what drew Poles together as a nation was a tradition of ethical behaviors coming from different sources (Western-European values, Catholicism and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), wanted to distinguish nationalism (destructive) from patriotism (constructive) and resorted to a Manichaean antagonism both between the nation and the State apparatus and between the former and Soviet Communist ideology. On the other hand, they regarded Polish society throughout time in terms of its acquisition, loss and retrieval of historical and political agency (podmiotowość). Similarly, they pondered as well on the complex relationships of their fellow countrymen with Russia/the USSR and the West, understood as a question of “otherness” plus a search for moral accountability and, hence, as another indispensable part of their own collective identity. All this fostered a perception of time based on the blend of cyclic and lineal images of the past and on a keen interest in the pioneering aspects of Polish protests and opposition movements. In turn, this stimulated historical awareness and historicization of present time, which can be appreciated in inteligencja’s discourses about the (in)capability to change the course of events, the dilemma between power and responsibility in decisionmaking and the question of posterity, as well as in the massive gathering, writing and publication of documents related to opposition activities, to which we devote the last part of our work. To sum up, discourses on the past enabled Polish critical intellectuals to define themselves and their nation in opposition to the communist regime, influenced oppositionists’ perception of the present and the future to the point of engendering specific forms of reasoning and action and had the purpose of uniting, “liberating” and emboldening Polish society in order to achieve freedom, independence and democracy. 6 In conclusion, with their reflections on history and time, the Polish opposition intellectuals we have approached in this dissertation offered back in 1976-1991 a personal and critical approach as to who Poles had been, were and could become as a nation, and resumed inteligencja’s mythical, Promethean mission of guiding their country towards better days in moments of hardship.
Description
Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, leída el 05-11-2015