Kwiat naszej przyjaźni – obraz Chińskiej Republiki Ludowej w miesięczniku „Chiny” (1959–1963)

Abstrakt

The article presents the results of a descriptive analysis conducted on the corpus of all issues of the Chiny monthly, published by the Polish–Chinese Friendship Society at the turn of the 1960s. The study identifies two narrative strategies: the first promoted the centuries old heritage of Chinese culture, while the second portrayed China as a “brotherly” socialist state. The published translations of Chinese literature – from classical to revolutionary works – played an important role in shaping both narrative strategies. The analysis was supplemented by a telephone interview with Elżbieta Dzikowska, one of the key translators and co creators of the periodical. Texts written by Dzikowska as well as by other respected Polish sinologists were anchored primarily in cultural discourse, marginalizing direct forms of ideological narration. Chiny thus stands as a document of its era: evidence of the instrumentalization of knowledge about China in the Polish People’s Republic, while at the same time preserving space for valuable – though systemically constrained – cultural transmission.