Nasze papierowe dziecko: Herbert–Dedecius.

A presentation of a collection of correspondence exchanged by Zbigniew Herbert and Karl Dedecius, his German translator and, simultaneously, friend. The author draws attention to the place held by Herbert’s writings in the Federal Republic of Germany, where from the late 1960s he not only enjoyed successes but was outright treated almost as a German author – an exceptional experience for a poet. Awards received by Herbert during those years were connected with the German language and were granted by institutions from Germany and Austria; the reception of his works within this cultural range also paved a path towards becoming a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The key role in all those processes was played by Dedecius, both as translator and the poet’s agent, who expertly looked after Herbert’s career. From this perspective the fact that in 1984 Herbert broke off relations with his friend appears to be particularly painful – the poet, battling depression, made a number of accusations against Dedecius. Thus the collection of letters discussed in the article is a source of information about European literary life during the second half of the twentieth century as well as fragments of the psychological portrait of Zbigniew Herbert. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]