In Search of a New Genre. ‘The Empire’ by Ryszard Kapuściński Between Reportage, Autobiography and Essay

Abstract

Four years after the death of the reporter and writer Ryszard Kapuściński (1932-2007) his work is being widely revised. Nevertheless, it is difficult to determine whether he goes beyond or not the limits of journalism in his books published in Communist Poland, due to its allegorical nature. Therefore, in this article we analyse the conception, the form and some guide-lines of The Empire´s reception, his mosaic about the fall of the Soviet Union published in 1993. A book which is not completely understood in many aspects.