Authors

John M. Bates¹;  ¹ University of Glasgow, UK

Discussion

Lipska’s short story appeared in the literary monthly Twórczosc (June 1975) before being rejected for publication in book form at the end of 1976. It was eventually cleared by the Main Office in 1979, before being published in a third version in 1993 which retained certain amendments suggested by censors back in the 1970s. Its transparently Aesopian phrasing makes the work’s initial appearance surprising and its censored second edition became a minor cause celebre in Polish underground publishing. The paper will examine the obfuscations and gambits undertaken by censors, reviewers and publishers and consider the undocumented dimensions that contributed to the work’s later publication.