Peripheral (Non)Polishnesses : Museums, Creeping Conflicts, and Transformative Frictions

Kobielska, Maria; Siewior, Kinga

doi:2450-8462

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Peripheral (Non)Polishnesses : Museums, Creeping Conflicts, and Transformative Frictions Kobielska, MariaSiewior, Kinga

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Peripheral (Non)Polishnesses : Museums, Creeping Conflicts, and Transformative Frictions

Acta Poloniae Historica T. 128 (2023), Mnemonic Wars in Poland

Kobielska, Maria ; Siewior, Kinga

Polska Akademia Nauk. Komitet Nauk Historycznych ; Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla ; Fundacja Instytutu Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Instytut Historii Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Warszawa

2023

p. 99-126

historical museums ; Polish museum boom ; memory frictions ; national memory ; public memory

Whilst Poland appears today as a paradigmatic example of a homogeneous, exclusive national and cultural identity, reinforced by the hegemonic historical policy of a semi-authoritarian state, it is also challenged by Polish minority histories (civilian, multi-ethnic, non-Catholic, women). The main concern of the present article is the plural ‘Polishness’ that emerges from the constellation of these non-default histories. To examine the frictions of historical narratives in action, authors use spaces of historical museums as a field of observation, perceiving them as memory agents fostering not only confrontational but also negotiative memory politics. To identify situations in which tensions between the ‘central’ Polishness and its unorthodox variants are particularly evident, the paper takes a look at ‘non-central’ Polish territories i.e. ‘post-German’ areas, characterized by a complex heterogeneous past in which Germanness and Polishness, but also ‘Silesianness’ or ‘Borderlandness’ mutually clash and dialogue. Analysis of selected exhibitions’ construction reveals peculiarities of different local contexts in transitional spaces and strategies of resolving creeping conflicts between ‘the Polishness’ and plural, peripheral ‘Polishnesses’. As authors argue, these case studies – instead of a static model of open memory conflict and binaries – offer dynamic models of memory, and allow to introduce the concept of memory frictions.

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