Kołakowski made by Piper

Abstract

Summary Since the year 1960, a range of works by Polish philosopher Leszek Kołakowski have been published by Piper-Verlag. The paper analyses some so far unknown archival data that offer some insights into the circumstances of their publication. Sections 2 and 3 show how Kołakowski’s German debut (essay collection from 1960 under the title Der Mensch ohne Alternative) may have been influenced by factors that tend to shape the literary field, such as the contemporary cultural and publishing policy and the role played by the intermediaries and translators. The argument provides new insights into the history of ideas that constituted the background of the import of Polish/ East European literature to the FRG from the 1950 s on. Next (section 4), the paper addresses the question as to why the editing conducted on Kołakowski’s work had failed to initiate a more systematic transfer of Eastern European (criticism of) Marxist philosophy to the German publishing market. Moreover (section 5), an attempt is made at a closer characterisation and problematisation of the readings of some themes of Kołakowski’s works by the editor in Piper-Verlag, Hans Rößner, a German philologist and ex-SS officer. In this context, a rhetorical question as to this sort of ideological criticism is posed. Finally, the data presented in the paper bring the following issues to the fore in terms of future research directions: (1) transfer of literature/ knowledge from Poland/ Eastern Europe during the Cold War and (2) the actual part that Eastern Europe played in the “global” conflict of ideas under the label of “1968”.