Ryszard Kapuściński

Ryszard Kapuściński
Born	March 4, 1932(1932-03-04) Pińsk, Poland (now in Brest Voblast, Belarus).
Died	January 23, 2007(2007-01-23) (aged 74) Warsaw, Poland
Occupation	historian & journalist
Ethnicity	Polish
Official website

Ryszard Kapuściński (Polish pronunciation: [ˈrɨʂart kapuɕˈt​͡ɕiɲski]  ( listen); March 4, 1932 - January 23, 2007) was a highly regarded Polish journalist and writer whose dispatches in book form brought him a global reputation. Also a photographer and poet, he was born in Pińsk – now in Belarus – in the Kresy Wschodnie, or eastern borderlands of the second Polish Republic. Much of Kapuściński's work is considered to ascend to the heights of literature. Kapuscinski himself called his work "literary reportage" in a 2001 interview.^[1]

Contents 1 Third World reportage and other work 2 Author 3 Praise, honours and critiques 4 Criticism and collaboration with communist secret service 5 Controversial biography 6 Selected bibliography 6.1 Works available in English 6.2 Works currently unavailable in English 6.3 Magazine contributions in English (by issue) 7 Notes and references 8 See also 9 External links

Third World reportage and other work

During the years from 1954 to 1981 Kapuściński was a member of the Communist Party (the Polish United Workers' Party). In 1964, after honing his skills on domestic stories, he "was appointed by the Polish Press Agency (PAP) as its only foreign correspondent, and for the next ten years he was 'responsible' for fifty countries."^[2] From 1965, he traveled through the developing world reporting on wars, coups and revolutions in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas; including the Football War - a "bloody, scarcely believable conflict that Honduras and El Salvador waged in 1969 over a pair of soccer games."^[2] When he finally returned to Poland, he had lived through twenty-seven revolutions and coups, been jailed 40 times and survived four death sentences.^[3] In the English speaking world, Kapuściński is best known for his reporting from Africa in the 1960s and 1970s, when he witnessed first-hand the end of the European colonial empires on that continent. Italian journalist Tiziano Terzani and Ryszard Kapuściński reportedly shared a similar vision of journalism.^[4]

In a 2006 interview with Reuters, Kapuściński said that he wrote for "people everywhere still young enough to be curious about the world." Kapuściński died on January 23, 2007, following a grave illness.^[5]

Author

From the early 1960s onwards, Kapuściński published books of increasing literary craftsmanship characterized by sophisticated narrative technique, psychological portraits of characters, a wealth of stylization and metaphor and unusual imagery that serves as means of interpreting the perceived world. Kapuściński's best-known book, The Emperor, concerns itself with the decline of Haile Selassie's anachronistic regime in Ethiopia. Shah of Shahs, on the fall of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, and Imperium, about the last days of the Soviet Union, have enjoyed similar success.^[6]

Kapuściński was fascinated by the humanity he found in different worlds and people, as well as the books of these worlds and people: he approached foreign countries first through literature, spending months reading before each trip. He was skilled in listening to the diverse people he met, but he was also capable of "reading" the hidden sense of the scenes he encountered: the way the Europeans moved out of Angola, a discussion regarding alimony in the Tanganyikan parliament, the reconstruction of frescoes in the new Russia—he turned each of these vignettes into a metaphor of historical transformation. This tendency to process private adventures into a greater social synthesis made Kapuściński an eminent thinker, and the volumes of the ongoing Lapidarium series are a fascinating record of the shaping of a reporter's observations into philosophical reflections on the world and people.

In Poland, Kapuściński was also known as a poet. In November, 2007, Biblioasis published Kapuściński's selected poems in English, I Wrote Stone, bringing this aspect of Kapuściński's work to an English audience for the first time.

Praise, honours and critiques

Salman Rushdie wrote about him: "One Kapuściński is worth more than a thousand whimpering and fantasizing scribblers. His exceptional combination of journalism and art allows us to feel so close to what Kapuściński calls the inexpressible true image of war".^[7]

Although he was frequently mentioned as a favorite to win the Nobel Prize in literature, it was never awarded to him. Since his death he has been offered many epitaphs in the press, such as, "The master of modern journalism",^[8] "Translator of the World" and "The Greatest Reporter in the World",^[9] "Herodotus of our times",^[10] "Third World chronicler".^[11][12] His work has been criticised, however, for factual inaccuracies and for the image he creates of Africa.^[13]

Criticism and collaboration with communist secret service

Specific elements of Kapuściński's writings have been questioned.^[14]

In May 2007, the Polish edition of Newsweek magazine revealed that Kapuściński worked for the Communist Polish secret service from 1965 to 1972 or 1977, and that he had reported on several of his colleagues.^[15] In an article in Slate Magazine, writer Jack Shafer decried the general belief that Kapuściński was a genius, calling him a fabulist who did not adhere to the basic rules of journalism.^[16] As part of his criticism, Shafer cited a compendium of Kapuściński's misinformation and exaggeration by anthropology professor John Ryle.^[17] His condemnation was rebutted by Meghan O'Rourke in Slate five days later; O'Rourke contended that Kapuściński's invention of petty details to reveal a larger truth did not make him a bad journalist.^[18]

Much more attention has been drawn recently to numerous exaggerations or half-truths by Kapuściński. For example, he apparently claimed to have met Che Guevara at a time when Che was already dead.^[19]

Kapuściński was given an unflattering portrayal as the unmistakable model for the main character in Andrzej Wajda's 1978 film Without Anesthesia.^[20]

Controversial biography

On 26 February 2010, a critical biography of Kapuściński was published in Poland: Kapuściński Non-Fiction, by Artur Domosławski.^[21] Kapuściński's widow, Alicja Kapuścińska, had unsuccessfully sought an injunction against publication of the biography, claiming defamation and invasion of privacy.^[22] In particular, the biography reports on Kapuściński's alleged extramarital affairs and on his strained relationship with his daughter. The biography is considered controversial by Polish standards because its warts-and-all treatment, more characteristic of the contemporary Anglo-Saxon approach to biography, marks a departure from the typical Polish approach to biography as quasi-hagiography.^[23] As The Guardian put it, "Four previous biographies painted him in an entirely flattering light."^[24] Kapuścińska also is reportedly attempting to block publication of any translations of the new biography by threatening to withdraw rights to publish Kapuściński's works from foreign publishers who consider publishing Domosławski's book.^[25]

Selected bibliography

Works available in English

• Another Day of Life (Jeszcze dzień życia) (1976)
• The Soccer War (Wojna futbolowa) (1978)
• The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat (Cesarz) (1978)
• Shah of Shahs (Szachinszach) (1982)
• Imperium (Imperium) (1993)
• The Shadow of the Sun (Heban) (2001)
• Travels with Herodotus (Podróże z Herodotem) (2007^[26])
• Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the Twenty-First Century (Spotkanie z innym jako wyzwanie XXI wieku) (2007^[27])
• I Wrote Stone: The Selected Poetry of Ryszard Kapuściński (2007)

Works currently unavailable in English

• The Polish Bush (Busz po polsku) (1962) — A collection of early essays.
• Black Stars (Czarne gwiazdy) (1963) — A book which focuses on Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba.
• The Kirghiz Dismounts (Kirgiz schodzi z konia) (1968) — Essays and articles about the (then) Asian and Caucasian Soviet Republic.
• If All Africa... (1968) — A collection of essays and articles about Africa.
• Why Karl Von Spreti Died (Dlaczego zginął Karl von Spreti) (1970) — A book about Guatemala during the 1960s and 1970s, in the background of the assassination of Karl von Spreti.
• Christ With a Rifle on His Shoulder (Chrystus z karabinem na ramieniu) (1975) — A book which focuses on the partisan movements in Africa, Latin America and Middle East.
• An Invitation to Georgia (1983)
• The Notebook (Notes) (1986) — A collection of the author's poetry.
• Lapidarium (1990)
• Lapidarium II (1995)
• Lapidarium III (1997)
• Lapidarium IV (2000)
• Out of Africa (2000) — The author's first photo album.
• Lapidarium V (2002)
• A Reporter's Self Portrait (Autoportret reportera) (2003) — A collection of interviews with and quotes by Kapuściński.
• Lapidarium VI (2006)

Magazine contributions in English (by issue)

• Granta 15: The Fall of Saigon
• Granta 16: Science
• Granta 20: In Trouble Again
• Granta 21: The Story-Teller
• Granta 26: Travel
• Granta 28: Birthday Special!
• Granta 33: What Went Wrong?
• Granta 48: Africa
• Granta 73: Necessary Journeys
• Granta 88: Mothers

Notes and references

See also

• Travel writing
• Foreign correspondent
• Kazimierz Nowak
• V. S. Naipaul
• Herodotus
• Tiziano Terzani

External links

• Kapuscinski.info Unofficial Polish website
• John May interviews Kapuscinski, London, 9 August 1984
• John May interviews Kapuscinski, London, 3 April 1986
• Interview with Kapuscinski: Writing About Suffering, Journal of the International Institute, November, 1997
• Keynote speech, Herodotus and the Art of Noticing, on receipt Lettre Ulysses Award, 2003
• Letras Libres interview with Kapuscinski in Spanish
• Documentary movie: A Poet on the Frontline: The Reportage of Ryszard Kapuscinski, 2004
• Review of Travels with Herodotus
• InfoPoland: Kapuściński links
• Press response in UK, USA and Canada to Kapuscinski's death
• Ryszard Kapuściński and Tiziano Terzani