December Uprising

Jacek Bierut

The fifth novel by one of the most interesting contemporary Polish prose writers, although it is widely known that "there is no such writer as Bierut." Jacek Bierut has once again masterfully constructed a narrative, using various conventions, intertwining disparate threads, and perfecting his own unique language, rich and consistently blending established modes and formulas of Polish prose. The characters here speak in their own voices, each with their own and each about a different matter. Because each of them has been placed in a situation requiring a choice. December 13th and several subsequent days after the introduction of martial law in Poland, or rather in a medium-sized Lower Silesian city (Jelenia Góra, or perhaps Wałbrzych, Legnica, or Bolesławiec?). The protagonists are children and adults. The children instigate an uprising, but everyone joins in their game. Independently of each other. Of course, there is no talk of any armed struggle, although everyone is fighting, each for something most important and against something worst. Because the rapidly changing reality, though in truth little has changed, demands a reaction. In the hastily closed Sanatorium for Handicapped Children, ZOMO is stationed. A tank turns out to be a great meeting place. On the walls appears the graphic symbol of the December Uprising, stylized like the anchor of Fighting Poland, yet resembling the symbol for a disabled person in a wheelchair…

In "The December Uprising," the threads intertwine brilliantly. Criminal, romantic, political, religious, psychological, road, martyrological, pedagogical, literary, natural (the world of wild animals rendered masterfully), and others, yet it is one swift narrative about times, love, honor, maturing (regardless of age), responsibility, and the Polish language. The latter aspect deserves particular attention. Understanding the language of the characters, who evoke the street language of the 1980s, can provide significant insight into the reasons for the rapid and profound changes we observe in contemporary Polish.