Polish Book Reportage in the Digital Age: Symptoms of Adaptation

• Katarzyna Frukacz ^[1]
  1. [1] Uniwersytet Śląski
• Localización: The Routledge Companion to World Literary Journalism / John S. Bak (ed. lit.), Bill Reynolds (ed. lit.), 2023, ISBN 978-0-367-35524-1, págs. 526-537
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This chapter presents the ways in which Polish literary journalism—published mainly in the form of printed books—adapts to the communicative standards of the digital age. First, it discusses symptoms of the modernization of this writing trend, with a particular emphasis on the emergence of book reportage as part of internet-based transmedia documentary projects. Second, it analyzes the transformation of published nonfiction into generic and intermedia hybrids that correspond to the affirmation of experimentalism and immersivity typical of new media. This hybridization is discussed in the light of the growing intimization of Polish reportage and its increasing interdiscursivity. The latter feature comes to the fore in the so-called polyphonic documentary novel, as well as in books that result from cooperation between reporters and representatives of other arts. Moreover, the chapter touches upon the idea of reportage storytelling with active participation of the audience and draws attention to the exploration of virtual social media, very common in Polish journalism. These mechanisms are then related to the interactive and personalized formula of new media, which coincide with traditional media forms. The examples invoked include texts by leading contemporary Polish reporters, such as Jacek Hugo-Bader, Filip Springer, and Mariusz Szczygieł. The analysis leads to the conclusion that—contrary to opinions that highlight a decline of the print culture in the era of mediamorphosis—the book as a vehicle for reportage can effectively compete against digital forms of literary journalism.