Polska pamięć autoafirmacyjna
Polish Auto-Affirmative Memory

Summary/Abstract: Kobielska examines the culture of commemoration in Poland today, framing it in terms of ‘memory tools’ and describing the plurality of the commemorative tendencies it produces. She discusses three of them: the commemoration of the so-called ‘cursed solders,’ the purposeful organisation and use of the ways in which the Righteous Among the Nations are remembered, and the memory of the massacres of Poles in Volhynia. This allows her to characterize Polish memory as an auto-affirmation, while also showing different variations and mechanisms of this auto-affirmation, which nevertheless essentially strives to form an impeccable image of the past, to foster a sense of accomplishment and dignity, and to eliminate any doubts concerning the image produced. At the same time Kobielska demonstrates the ambivalence of these tendencies, the insecurity of their synchronization and the resulting possibility of their critical reinterpretation.

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