A nonconformist approach to the problems of censorship and freedom of speech (Russian and Polish) in comparative studies by Aleksander Świętochowski

In 1926, in “Myśl Narodowa”, Aleksander Świętochowski wrote among others: “For almost fifty years my spirit has endured the torture of Russian censorship, suffering torments, and yet I felt less terror then than I do now.” Such a comparison of the Russian censorship (foreign) to the Polish one (native), favourable to the former, was seen by many as highly controversial. Was it a valid comparison? Can foreigncensorship be judged according to diff erent criteria than the native one? Which criteriacan one apply to the very phenomenon of censorship in general? The problem of freedom of speech and censorship took up a special place in Świętochowski’s literary production: as a writer, publicist, editor and publisher he had to face numerous instances of the restrictions imposed on the freedom of speech. He used to draw attention, not only to the institutional censorship but also to the informal pressure exerted by the clerical and conservative circles. Following the concepts of Jürgen Habermas and Pierre Bourdieu this articleaims to conceptualise the sphere of the freedom of speech presented in the writingsof Aleksander Świętochowski.Agnieszka Uziębł