Chapter 2: Miłosz as a Public Speaker and Popularizer of Polish Culture in the USA

Abstract

As an officer of the Consulate, Miłosz was assigned the task of maintaining relations with Poles living abroad, building a favorable image of Poland, and later – upon assuming the post of second secretary at the Embassy in Washington – organizing events, developing contacts with academic and artistic circles, and participating in American and Polish educational and cultural events. These duties involved giving public talks to various audiences. The poet’s relations with the Polish diaspora were marked by reserve and distrust. This was especially true of post-war émigrés, who did not recognize the government in Warsaw, and boycotted the activities of its diplomacy.144 Establishing closer relations with this group was hampered by Miłosz’s divergent attitude toward pre-war Poland. Perhaps the sharpest comment regarding this polarization of positions is found in the note he wrote on New Year’s Eve, 1945: