Śląsk i Ślązacy. Pomiędzy zakorzenieniem a wykorzenieniem. Refleksja o (nie)trwaniu w polityce kulturowego unicestwienia
Silesia and Silesians. Between Rootedness and Uprootedness: Reflections in the Context of a Policy of Cultural Annihilation

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to reflect on the question: How is Silesianness (im)possible under a policy of cultural annihilation? The author's subject of interest is social memory. Silesian heritage is treated as an exemplification of cultures in which "non-memory" of political and wartime traumas constitutes an important element. The analysis concerns two cultural texts--Zbigniew Rokita's Kajś. Opowieść o Górnym Śląsku and Alojzy Lysko's Mianujom mie Hanka. Opowieść górnośląska--subjected to semantic and structural analysis following the approaches of Roland Barthes and Paul Ricoeur. The structure of the article consists of four parts: the first reconstructs selected aspects of Stanisław Ossowski's theory of cultural heritage; the second addresses the issue of rootedness and uprootedness (drawing on Simone Weil's theory); the third examines the biographical and identity-related consequences of the policy of annihilating Silesian memory; and the fourth offers reflections on the central question. The main consequences of "un-remembering" are: (1) the possibility of discovering what has miraculously survived and what is essential for the reconstruction of Silesian identity; (2) the possibility of restoring the tragically interrupted generational transmission; (3) the possibility of acknowledging the tragedy of Upper Silesia as part of Silesia's public heritage; and (4) the possibility of publicizing and recognizing the tragedy of Upper Silesia, which, in the political dimension, can be seen as the first steps toward building multiculturalism in Poland.

• Details
• Contents