Ameryka i polski socrealizm, czyli coca-cola czy cukier trzcinowy

Abstract

In Polish socialist realistic journalism and prose, the image of North America is an extremely important element, which is often used as an ideological tool. Vivid images (including those most popular: potato beetle or Coca Cola) in the world divided after World War II are supposed to convince the readers that the United States are a great and ominous power, a superpower built on the exploitation of the working class and becoming rich at the expense of other countries, as well as the willingness to start another global war — a country that strives to destroy peace and communism. These images, already interpreted many times, become an interesting starting point for the description of the specific exoticism of America, completely unknown and unapproachable in Europe, hidden behind the Iron Curtain (although this term is much younger, it perfectly describes the global power structure). South America, on the other hand, remains completely unknown to Polish literary critics and journalists. It shall remain so, even though the novels of the Brazilian writer, Jorge Amado, have been published in Poland quite often.