Ryszard Kapuściński: Biography of a Writer

Ryszard Kapuściński’s life, work, reception, and legacy, through his literary reportage. In the first posthumous monograph on Ryszard Kapuściński’s life and work, Beata Nowacka and Zygmunt Ziątek confront the mixed reception of the writer’s use of the Polish concept of literary reportage, located on the border between journalism and artistic prose, and identify this tension as the driving force behind Kapuściński’s legacy. "An award-winning writer and a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature, Ryszard Kapuściński (1932-2007) was a celebrated Polish journalist and author. Praised for the lengths to which he would go to get a story, Kapuściński gained an extraordinary knowledge of the major global events of the second half of the twentieth century and shared it with his diverse audience. The first posthumous monograph on the writer's life and work, Ryszard Kapuściński confronts the mixed reception of Kapuściński's tendency to merge the conventions of reportage with the artistry of literature. Beata Nowacka and Zygmunt Ziątek discuss the writer's accounts of the decolonization of Africa and his work in Asia and South America between 1956 and 1981, a period during which Kapuściński reported on twenty-seven revolutions and coups. They argue that the journalistic tradition is not in conflict with Kapuściński's meditations on the deep meanings of these events, and that his first-person involvement in his text was not an indulgence detracting from his journalistic adventures but a well-thought-out conception of eyewitness testimony, developing the moral and philosophical message of the stories. Exploring the whole of Kapuściński's achievements, Nowacka and Ziątek identify a constant tension between a strictly journalistic position and what in Poland is called literary reportage, located on the border between journalism and artistic prose. Kapuściński's desire and dedication to make more of journalistic writing is the driving force behind the excellence and readability that have made his legendary books so controversial - and so widely celebrated."-- Provided by publisher An award-winning writer and a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature, Ryszard Kapuscinski (19322007) was a celebrated Polish journalist and author. Praised for the lengths to which he would go to get a story, Kapuscinski gained an extraordinary knowledge of the major global events of the second half of the twentieth century and shared it with his diverse audience.The first posthumous monograph on the writers life and work, Ryszard Kapuscinski confronts the mixed reception of Kapuscinskis tendency to merge the conventions of reportage with the artistry of literature. Beata Nowacka and Zygmunt Ziatek discuss the writers accounts of the decolonization of Africa and his work in Asia and South America between 1956 and 1981, a period during which Kapuscinski reported on twenty-seven revolutions and coups. They argue that the journalistic tradition is not in conflict with Kapuscinskis meditations on the deep meanings of these events, and that his first-person involvement in his text was not an indulgence detracting from his journalistic adventures but a well-thought-out conception of eyewitness testimony, developing the moral and philosophical message of the stories. Exploring the whole of Kapuscinskis achievements, Nowacka and Ziatek identify a constant tension between a strictly journalistic position and what in Poland is called literary reportage, located on the border between journalism and artistic prose. Kapuscinskis desire and dedication to make more of journalistic writing is the driving force behind the excellence and readability that have made his legendary books so controversial and so widely celebrated. Cover RYSZARD KAPUŚCIŃSKI Title Copyright Contents Translator’s Note Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction 1 “We were children of the war ...” 2 “A metric of our generation” 3 Incidental Polish and African Tales 4 PAP Correspondent or Traveller? 5 On His Own Account 6 “I decided not to write like that anymore” 7 “Those were the days of constant emotion ...”: The Polish Revolution, 1980–1982 8 “REE-shard Kah-poosh-CHIN-skee”: Kapuściński in English 9 “High time I started writing the next unwritten book” 10 Return to the Origins? 11 “He who created his own world will survive ...” Timeline Bibliographical Note Notes Index of Names In the first posthumous monograph on Ryszard Kapuscinski's life and work, Beata Nowacka and Zygmunt Ziatek confront the mixed reception of the writer's use of the Polish concept of literary reportage, located on the border between journalism and artistic prose, and identify this tension as the driving force behind Kapuscinski's legacy.