Zdzisław Najder

Zdzisław Najder (born in Warsaw, Poland, October 31, 1930) is a Polish literary historian, critic and political activist. He is primarily known as a pre-eminent scholar on the work of author Joseph Conrad and for his positions as adviser to Lech Wałęsa and Jan Olszewski as well as for serving as chief of the Polish language section of Radio Free Europe.

Educated in Poland and England, Najder had worked as a professor in Poland and abroad before his exile from Poland in 1981, during the majority of which he worked with Radio Free Europe. Sentenced to death in absentia in his native land, he did not return until the overthrow of its communist regime, whereupon he became an active political adviser.

Najder's 1983 biography of Conrad, substantially revised in 2007, is regarded as an important work in Conrad scholarship.

Biography

Early life and academic career

Born in Warsaw on October 31, 1930, Najder studied at Warsaw University (1949–1954) and St Antony's College, Oxford (1959–1969), earning doctoral degrees in philosophy and Polish literature.^[1] He added a second doctoral degree in Polish literature in Poland in 1978. Najder served at Warsaw University as a Professor of Literature,^[2] stood as coeditor of the Polish monthly literary journal Twórczość and served on staff for the Polish Academy of Sciences' Institute for Literary Studies.^[1]

Exile

When martial law in Poland was declared on December 13, 1981, Najder was at Oxford University as a visiting scholar.^[2] Choosing not to return to his native land, Najder took a position in Germany with Radio Free Europe (RFE), becoming chief of its Polish language section in April 1982.^[3] In response, the Polish government under the leadership of Wojciech Jaruzelski condemned him to death in absentia, accusing Najder of spying for the United States intelligence services.^[3][4] Two years later, his Polish citizenship would be stripped.^[5]

The first citizen of the Eastern Bloc recruited for such a role, Najder influenced the RFE to more sharply criticize Poland's communist regime, launching a program that envisioned the country without communism: The Poland that Could Be.^[1] Najder remained with the post until 1987.

Conrad scholarship

Najder's interest in Polish-born author Joseph Conrad long predates his exile; in 1998, Barry Langford for Times Higher Education (THE) described it as "four decades of biographical and critical research".^[6] In 1983, Najder published a definitive biography of Conrad, Joseph Conrad, A Chronicle (Smithmark), which drew comparisons of the two by literary critic Edward Said: "Exile, the strong affinity with French and British culture, the sense of Poland as a place lost to Russian power, the remorseless effort to keep working and writing in environments less than perfect – these things bind Mr. Najder to Conrad…."^[4] Said went on to laud the book, asserting that "It is correct, I think, to say that what we get in it is the first, almost rigidly antinomian portrait we have had of him, with the discrepancies and contradictions of fact, character and esthetic laid out starkly, the impossibilities of situation left unadorned, the inexplicable vagaries of career and temperament encouraged to speak for themselves more powerfully than ever before."^[4] The book became, according to Richard Hand in THE, "instantly a key work in Conrad studies", while Najder himself earned renown as a pre-eminent Conrad scholar.^[7][8]

In addition to other publications on Conrad, in 2007 Najder rewrote of Joseph Conrad, a Chronicle, issued as Joseph Conrad, a Life (Camden House). The rewrite included substantial new content reflecting Najder's continued research into Conrad's biography.^[7]

Repatriation

In 1989, the communist government of Poland was voted out of power and Solidarity trade union's Tadeusz Mazowiecki was appointed Prime Minister.^[9] Najder's conviction of espionage was overturned.^[10] Najder returned to his homeland, serving as a key adviser to Lech Wałęsa during his presidency (1990–1995) and a senior adviser to Jan Olszewski during his term as Prime Minister (1991–1992).^[1][11]

In 1992, he became central to a controversy in Poland when Jerzy Urban published in left-wing Polish weekly tabloid magazine NIE a document purported to have been written by Najder in 1958 claiming that he would cooperate with Communist secret police.^[12] Urban was accused and convicted of violating Poland's state secrets act.^[12][13] Najder denied ever having worked with the police, although he admitted that they had contacted him.^[10] Because Poland never experienced the process of lustration in full like Germany did for instance, it is often the case that people accused of cooperation with secret police (which was paid for, voluntary activity) deny it. However, in 2005 it was finally revealed that Najder was working for the secret police, under the code name 'Zapalniczka', which stands in Polish for a 'Lighter'.^[14]

In addition to his political activities in Poland, Najder also returned to Polish academia, taking a position at the University of Opole as a professor of English literature.^[1]

Select bibliography

• Najder, Zdzisław (1983). Joseph Conrad, a chronicle. Smithmark Pub. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
• Najder, Zdzisław; Halina Carroll-Najder (1983). Conrad under Familial Eyes: texts. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-25082-5. 
• Najder, Zdzisław (1997). Conrad in Perspective: essays on art and fidelity. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-57321-4. 
• Najder, Zdzisław (2007). Joseph Conrad: a life. Camden House. ISBN 978-1-57113-347-2. 

References