Postmemory and Substitute Witnesses in Contemporary Descriptions of the So-Called Polish-Ukrainian Conflict During the World War II Cover Image

Postpamięć i świadkowie zastępczy a współczesne opisy tzw . konfliktu polsko‑ukraińskiego z okresu II wojny światowej
Postmemory and Substitute Witnesses in Contemporary Descriptions of the So-Called Polish-Ukrainian Conflict During the World War II

Author(s): Jarosław Syrnyk
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Sociology, Political history, Fascism, Nazism and WW II
Published by: KSIĘGARNIA AKADEMICKA Sp. z o.o.
Keywords: postmemory; substitute witness; social post‑memory; ethnohistory; power; Volhynia

Summary/Abstract: This article presents the general problem of the postmemorial character of parts of contemporary historiography. An illustration of this issue is the preliminary analysis of descriptions of Polish‑Ukrainian relations during World War II. The analysis is based on tropes derived from genocide studies. Several research hypotheses were formulated on this basis. They require further verification. This is, among others, the question of introducing the concept of ‘social postmemory’ and showing its relation to historical policy. Promising seems to the perception of the connection between post‑memory, discursiveness, and eristic. The issue of intergenerational dialogue on the past and memory has also emerged in the background of deliberations. In the article, an ethno‑historical variant of practicing history has also been criticized in an indirect way.

  • Issue Year: 14/2017
  • Issue No: 47
  • Page Range: 215-240
  • Page Count: 26
  • Language: Polish