“A good, wise text is our refuge”: On the Correspondence of Tymoteusz Karpowicz and Kazimierz Braun

Joanna MICHALCZUK

Katedra Dramatu i Teatru, Instytut Literaturoznawstwa, Wydział Nauk Humanistycznych, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland , Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6809-0952

Abstract

The present article is based on a collection of over a dozen unpublished letters exchanged by two Polish writers and scholars, Tymoteusz Karpowicz and Kazimierz Braun. The correspondence in question, stored in Braun’s home archive, was donated to the author of the article. As instances of a distinct genre of literary expression governed by specific compositional rules, the analyzed letters are considered by the author intrinsically valuable; they are, however, also used as sources of biographical information. As such, the correspondence between Karpowicz and Braun offers compelling evidence of their mutual respect and friendship, established in the United States of America in 1980, while giving an insight into lively intellectual discussions between the two creative artists. The letters reveal their less known, private profiles and make the reader aware of the importance of places, particularly ones in Poland, with which they were connected and which they, albeit at different times, left.

Keywords:

Tymoteusz Karpowicz, Kazimierz Braun, correspondence, Polish contemporary writers