Obraz Stanów Zjednoczonych we współczesnym reportażu polskim : rekonesans

Abstract

Polish reportages, in which the authors have tried to build an interesting and non-stereotypical image of the United States, are few. The reasons for this state of affairs seem complex. What discourages contemporary reporters from breaking the stereotypes is perhaps the fact that today the United States are the most exploited by mass culture place on Earth. Maybe the popular thinking that we already know everything there is to know about the US also still lingers. In 1997, Paweł Smoleński published Opowieści amerykańskie [American Tales], in 2009, Małgorzata Szejnert had her reportage Wyspa klucz [Key Island] released, and at the turn of the year 2013, reports by Katarzyna Surmiak-Domańska were printed in “Gazeta Wyborcza”. All three authors demonstrated a deep conviction that the United States is a country about which no generalizing judgments can be made since each opinion expressed about the country can be countered with one, equally corresponding to reality, that denies the previous. The reporters set an ambitious task for themselves — they want, at least in some measure, to understand the American society, its culture, tradition and way of thinking. That is why they talk to people and relate their stories, that is also why they focus their attention on unusual issues and phenomena, but primarily on the fate of individuals.