Traduction – représentation – exploitation

Translation – Representation – Exploitation. The Polish Events of 1980-1981 in the Magazine Polska: czasopismo ilustrowane The magazine Polska: czasopismo ilustrowane was created to present the cultural, economic and social events of People’s Poland to foreign readers. The Polish original of the monthly and its western editions (German, English, Spanish, French, and – until June 1981 – Swedish) were produced by the services of the Polish Agency Interpress, responsible for the publication and foreign dissemination of the magazine in accordance with the objectives of state propaganda.The aim of this contribution is to examine how the Polish events of 1980-1981 were represented in the monthly, taking into account that the propaganda policies of the communist countries used to vary depending on both the socio-political events and the target audience. The analysis of a selection of texts from the Polish edition (the translations faithfully imitated the original) published between August 1980 and November 1981 shows that the representation of the Polish thaw (the strikes, the creation of the trade union “Solidarity”, and the authorities’ reaction) was dominated by the pro-government point of view, and that the liberalization of the editorial line lasted for only four months. The exploitation of the magazine for propaganda purposes was more important than the desire to adapt it to the intended audience.