The discussion will provide an opportunity to take a broader look at censorship as one of the instruments of exercising power, from the early years of the People's Republic of Poland through to the political transformations of 1989–1990. The discussion will encompass not only the press and literature, but also music, theatre, film, radio and television. Participants will also consider what the work of censors looked like in practice, which topics and individuals were removed from official circulation, and how creators and audiences navigated the restrictions imposed upon them.
Dr Anna Wiśniewska-Grabarczyk, a researcher specialising in censorship in the People's Republic of Poland and a member of staff of the Department of 20th-and 21st-Century Polish Literature at the University of Lodz, will be among the panellists. Her contribution to the discussion will offer an opportunity to examine mechanisms of information control from the perspective of literature and censorship practices. Dr Wiśniewska-Grabarczyk’s research focuses, among other areas, on the analysis of censorship records, which reveal how state control influenced the shape of published texts and the functioning of literature in communist Poland.
The discussion will be moderated by Dr Michał Przeperski. Alongside Dr Anna Wiśniewska-Grabarczyk, the panel will feature Prof. Eryk Krasucki from the University of Szczecin and Prof. Błażej Brzostek from the University of Warsaw. The event will therefore provide an opportunity to examine the issue of censorship from the perspectives of different disciplines and research experiences, as well as to reflect on how information control shaped perceptions of reality in the People's Republic of Poland.
The event (in Polish) will take place on Wednesday (16 September) at 6.00 p.m. at the Polish History Museum. Admission is free of charge; however, tickets are required and can be obtained via the museum’s website: muzhp.pl/wydarzenia/debata-w-muzeum-cenzura-w-prl.
