The Exclusive Pleasures of Being a Second Generation Inteligent: Representation of Social Class in the Films of Andrzej Wajda

Abstract

This article discusses Wajda’s discourse on class. First it identifies the most important problems the concept raises when applied to Wajda’s characters and narratives. Next, it discusses the director’s representation and evaluation of three types of characters: the intelligentsia, the working class, and individuals who fall in between these two groups. In addition, the article analyzes how the representation of class is influenced by Wajda’s attitude toward gender and ethnicity. It concludes that his attitude to the class system in Poland is conservative and identifies some of the factors that influenced him. This article is an exploration of these issues, rather than an analysis of his films. Priority is given to films set during and after the second World War.