Recent Polish Perspectives on U.S. History: A Review Article

Abstract

Is there, or can there be, a unique “Polish” perspective on the history of the United States? Perhaps not, if one takes for granted the claims of historiography to scientific objectivity. No truth can be defined by a national point of view – after all, nationality is a construct of the mind, as we’re being repeatedly told by social scientists. Not daring to deny such allegations, one should nonetheless admit that there exists the possibility of a “fresh” perspective on the culture and history of a given country, as taken by outsiders – a perspective understood, primarily, as a different sensitivity due to one’s being grounded in a different cultural and historical context. Was it a coincidence, for example, that a pathbreaking study of American racial relations – An American Dilemma (1944) – was authored by a Swedish social scientist? (No need to mention Alexis de Tocqueville’s De la Democratie en Amerique, of course). In more recent times, there’s compelling evidence that outside perspectives on life, politics and culture in the United States often deserve genuine recognition (if not always granted in the U.S. itself).3 The Polish interest in the United States is unflagging. Over the years, the volume of Polish contributions on American life, history and culture has been prodigious. This is no place for giving recognition to what, in this writer’s opinion, are the most original Polish “takes” on those topics. One should observe, though, that the Polish interest in the United States is history-conscious and