Pomniki i ich retoryka jako trudny przypadek w prawie w czasach sprawiedliwości okresu przejściowego
Monuments and Their Rhetoric as a Hard Case in Law in Times of Transitional Justice

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the rhetoric of symbolic order, and, in particular—the rhetoric of monu­ments. Monuments, being symbolic messages, perform at least several communication functions, including those most relevant to this article—persuasive, informative, and, last but not least, aes­thetic, which is equally applicable in this context. A transfer of power inevitably brings about some degree of change in symbolic order, and the more radical such a transfer is, the deeper the change. The rhetoric of power takes on a new shape. One of the most important dimensions of power are the aesthetics of the state and its politics, and thus, whenever transfer occurs, monuments often serve as exemplars of ongoing changes. This observation hints at two closely related concepts in the philosophy of law that might inform the appropriate course of action concerning remnants of the past. The first one is the concept of hard cases in law, while the second is tied to the issue of transitional justice. The test of applica­bility of these two concepts came in the form of two cases—Pomnik wdzięczności Armii Czerwonej [Monuments of Gratitude to the Red Army] (1954) by Xawery Dunikowski and [Organs] (1966) by Władysław Hasior. This twofold philosophical framework provides a clearer and more straightfor­ward explanation for these two cases, as well as more general conclusions for any similar cases in the future.

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