The Cult of Exile In Krytyka, No. 1-2 (75-76), 2004, pp. 33–35.

Jan Buruma's article raises the issue of the transformation of the phenomenon of exile: from the tragic experience of forced loss of homeland to the metaphorical, and sometimes stylized, “fashionable” status of the intellectual outsider. The author demonstrates that the contemporary intellectual tradition often equates exile with a romanticized stance of distance and critical perspective, while ignoring the real suffering of those who have been deprived of a home. Literary and philosophical examples are analyzed, ranging from the biblical narrative of Adam and Eve to the works of Joyce, Adorno, and Said, which reveal the ambiguity of exile as both a metaphor and a lived necessity. The article argues that exile has become not only a cultural theme but also a kind of privilege for intellectuals who have transformed it into a means of self-definition and a tool for societal critique. Buruma shows that this duality, between the experience of actual exiles and the symbolic choice of intellectuals, defines the paradoxical appeal of exile in contemporary cultural discourse.