Zarządzanie „pamięcią niechcianą” o artyście. Studium przypadku „poety wyklętego” Rafała Wojaczka
Management of the “unwanted memory”of an artist. A case study of the “accursed poet”, Rafał Wojaczek

Summary/Abstract: This article presents the memory management of the poet from the perspective of the category of “unwanted memory”—a new and potentially promising research field. The “unwanted memory,”which followed the development of intensive studies of individual, collective and historical memory initiated at the beginning of the 20th century, is a concept needed in public and scientific discourse. The analysis of examples of hard, painful events in the history of independent Poland (1stand 2ndWorld War, brutal attacks against Jews, Lemko and Boyko; Communist occupation after WW II) proved the deep need for the “unwanted memory,”which would allow for substantive classification and interpretation of historical events. The article focuses on discussing the category of “unwanted memory”on a particular example —the poet RafałWojaczek (1945-1971), who is considered among the controversial “accursed poets”in Polish literature of the 20thcentury. The memory of this eccentric character is ambiguous among the many categories of recipients (or “carriers of memory”) —family, friends, acquaintances and readers, which shows the difficulty of a clear reception of the artist. An important point of consideration of this paper are the reflections of the “unwanted memory”in the context of management as a process that can be implemented by individuals (e.g. by family, friends, historians, writers), associations, foundations and public institutions. In the case of Wojaczek, the main guardian of the memory is the Mikołowski Institute, located in the poet’s hometown, which takes large-scale actions to protect the tangible and intangible heritage of the artist and promote his work nationwide.

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