SOURCE: "Beyond Ideology: The Prose of Tadeusz Konwicki," in Review of Contemporary Fiction, Vol. XIV, No. 3, Fall, 1994, pp. 139-55.

In the following essay, Mozejko traces the evolution of Konwicki's literary career, outlining the thematic and formal features that define his narrative discourse.

In many ways Tadeusz Konwicki (born in 1926) is a typical example of a writer who entered mature life in Poland after the establishment of the communist dictatorship in 1945. His writing underwent a gradual transformation from socialist realism, which he embraced as his "creative method" in the late forties and early fifties, to a complete rejection of socialist principles and adoption of a new independent aesthetic. In one respect, however, his biography seems to differ from many others of his generation. Born near Wilno (Vilnius), the present capital of Lithuania, Konwicki completed high school by attending clandestine study classes. On the eve of the German retreat in...