Patriotism in Mourning
Patriotism in Mourning

Summary/Abstract: On 10 April 2010, the plane carrying the Polish president to the commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of the Katyń massacre crashed near the Smolensk airport in Russia. The following article will not analyze the reasons for the catastrophe or its sequels. It will focus on the way in which the tragic death of Lech Kaczyński (along with ninety-five other people on board) and the subsequent national mourning were depicted in public discourse, bringing into focus key political concepts, such as community, national identity, and, above all, patriotism. It will focus on a number of questions: Did the perception and expression of patriotism change in this time of mourning? What was commonly perceived as patriotism during a national trauma? Was the national mourning symbolic? If yes, in what way? The current analysis presents the dynamics of public debate in the aftermath of the catastrophe and the major shifts the debate went through. First, it deals with the question of national mourning and the controversial decision to bury the presidential couple in the crypt of the Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków. Subsequently, the analysis focuses on references to Romanticism, religion, and the (de- and re-)construction of the concept of patriotism, drawing on insights concerning community and its alleged unity. While patriotism has been broadly discussed throughout the democratic transition, and new civic approaches have been offered, during the period of national mourning it was possible to detect a strong resurgence of Romantic language with its melodramatic and martyrological features.

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