Audiovisual Tactics of Resistance of the Polish Anti-Communist Opposition in the 1980s as Illustrated by Tomasz Łabędź’s Kalendarz Wojny (War Calendar)
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Dec 7, 2022
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Keywords:
Video Kontakt, tactics of resistance, documentary film, anti-communist opposition, Polish People’s Republic
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Abstract
This study is an interdisciplinary presentation of the changing media paradigm of the Polish anti-communists opposition in the 1980s. The article, in particular, emphasizes the first production of the Polish émigré media institution Video Kontakt, titled War Calendar, directed by Tomasz Łabędź. Interpreted as an example of audiovisual tactics of resistance, his work employed subversion and counterpoint to expose the discursive hypocrisy of the communist regime in Poland. The article also discusses the support that Polish dissident groups received from the Western trade unions and government agencies leading to the ‘paralel society’ with its own communication potential.
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References
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First National Congress of Delegates of NSZZ “Solidarity”, stenographic records, vol. 2, ed. G. Majchrzak, J.M. Owsiński, Warszawa: IPN 2013.
Analiza drugiego obiegu w okresie od 13 grudnia 1981 r. do 30 czerwca 1987 r. opracowana w Wydziale I Departamentu III MSW, Warszawa 1987, [in:] J. Olaszek, G. Wołk, Drugi obieg wydawniczy w oczach Służby Bezpieczeństwa, „Pamięć i Sprawiedliwość” 21(2013), no 12(1), pp. 369-435.
Bordwell D., Thompson K., Film Art: An Introduction, 8th edition, New York: McGrah-Hill 2010.
Brown J.A., Media Literacy Perspectives, “Journal of Communication” 48(1998), no 1, pp. 44-57.
Certeau M. de, The Practice of Everyday Life, Berkeley: University of California Press 1984.
Chenoweth E., AFL-CIO Support for Solidarity: Moral, Political, Financial, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305233146_AFL-CIO_support_for_solidarity_Moral_political_financial [accessed: 16.06.2021].
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Dijk van T.A., Discourse and manipulation, “Discourse & Society” 17(2006), issue 3, pp. 359-383.
Gąsecka M., Krótka historia o telewizji BIPS, “Biuletyn IPN” 2011, no 11-12, pp. 147-151.
Goban-Klas T., Wartki nurt mediów. Ku nowym formom społecznego życia informacji, Kraków: Universitas 2011.
Goddeeris I., Lobbying allies? The NSZZ Solidarność Coordinating Office Abroad, 1982-1989, “Journal of Cold War Studies” 13(2011), no 3, pp. 83-125.
Godderis I., Western trade unions and Solidarność: a comparison from a Polish perspective, “The Polish Review” 52(2007), no 3, pp. 305-329.
Godzic W., Wideo, czyli kontrolowanie iluzji wolności, [in:] Nowe media w komunikacji społecznej w XX wieku, ed. M. Hopfinger, Warszawa: Oficyna Naukowa 2005, pp. 316-329.
Habielski R., Polityczna historia mediów w Polsce w XX wieku, Warszawa: WAiP 2009.
Hayward S., Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts., 5th edition, London: Routledge 2018.
Heruday-Kiełczewska M., Solidarność nad Sekwaną, Gdańsk: Europejskie Centrum Solidarności 2016.
Jakubowicz K., Musical Chairs? The Three Public Spheres of Poland, “Media, Culture & Society” 12(1990), issue 2, pp. 195-212.
Johnston G., What Is the History of Samizdat?, “Social History” 24(1999), no 2, p. 115-133.
Karatnycky A., How we helped Solidarity win, August 27, 1989, “Washington post”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1989/08/27/how-we-helped-solidarity-win/443c4c9c-0a8f-4e88-8657-a6404fe11cc7/ [accessed: 22.08.2021].
Kind-Kovács F., Written Here, Published There: How Underground Literature Crossed the Iron Curtain, Budapest: Central European University Press 2014.
Komaromi A., The Material Existence of Soviet Samizdat, “Slavic Review” 63(2004), no 3, pp. 597-618.
KOMAROMI A., Ardis Facsimile and Reprint Editions: Giving Back Russian Literature, [in:] Samizdat, Tamizdat, and Beyond: Transnational Media During and After Socialism, ed. F. Kind-Kovács, J. Labov, Oxford: Berghahn Book 2013, pp. 27-50.
Labov J., Transatlantic Central Europe: Contesting Geography and Redefining Culture beyond the Nation, Budapest: European University Press 2019.
Messaris P., Visual Aspects of Media Literacy, “Journal of Communication” 1998, pp. 70-80.
Modzelewska A., Struktury organizacyjne NSZZ „Solidarność” w latach 1980-1989, Kraków: Wydawnictwo UJ 2019.
Pettey H.B., Introduction to Cold War Film Genres, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press 2018.
Potter J.W., Media Literacy, 9th Edition, Los Angeles: Sage Publications 2020.
Reisch A.A., Hot books in the cold war, Budapest: Central European University Press 2013.
Sitarki P., M.B. Garda, K. Jajko, Nowe media w PRL, Łódź: Wydawnictwo UŁ 2020.
Warszawa – Paryż – Warszawa. Z Mirosławem Chojeckim rozmawia Hanna Bartoszewicz, “Podkowiański Magazyn Kulturalny” 2009, no 60, https://www.podkowianskimagazyn.pl/nr60/choj.htm [accessed: 26.09.2021].
Wodak R., M. Reisigl, The Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA), [in:] Methods for Critical Discourse Analysis, ed. R. Wodak, M. Meyer, London: Sage 2009 (2nd revised edition), pp. 87-121.
The Cultural Cold War in Western Europe 1945-1960, ed. G. Scott-Smith, H. Krabbendam, London–New York: Frank Cass Publishers 2003
Wilford H., The Cia, the British Left and the Cold War, London–New York: Frank Cass Publishers 2003.