Aleksander Wat o pisarzach rosyjskich. Borys Pasternak i Ilija Erenburg
Aleksander Wat on Russian Boris Pasternak and Ilya Ehrenburg

Summary/Abstract: Aleksander Wat showed his avid interest in Russian literary process. The interests focused mostly on 20th century literature, though Wat knew older literature very well (he translated, inter alia, Dostoyevsky into Polish). In his recollections and commentaries, essays, diaries, and letters, a lot of space was dedicated to Russian writers. The article contains and comments upon the two writers on whom Wat focuses the most in his aforementioned scattered fragments – Boris Pasternak and Ilya Ehrenburg. Concentrating on one of the most famous Russian 20th century novels – “Doctor Zhivago”, Wat shows the novel’s “technological” awkwardness, however he highlights its prominent function in understanding Russian history in the last century. Attention is also paid to Ilya Ehrenburg (whose few books Wat translated into Polish), depicted from the perspective of the choices Ehrenburg made in his life and his ability to conform to the requirements of the current political situation. The criterium for reflections here is the ethical dimension of Ehrenburg’s actions and papers.

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