Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Cosmopolitan Memories under Pressure : The Case of Postcommunist Wrocław

Törnquist-Plewa, Barbara LU orcid and Pietraszewski, Igor (2022) In History and Memory 34(2). p.7-32
Abstract

This article uses the Polish case of Wrocław (formerly Breslau), a city burdened by memories of war and forced displacement, to show the dynamics between hegemonic memories, dominant memories and countermemories. After the fall of communism, the city changed the previous nationalist-communist narrative of its past by institutionalizing a new official narrative that promotes cosmopolitan memory. The authors investigate how these local, "Europeanized" politics of memory have since 2015 been confronted by exclusionary narratives of Polish memory and identity that the Polish national government strives to make hegemonic. The study pinpoints the successful maneuvers of the liberal local government determined to resist this nationalist... (More)

This article uses the Polish case of Wrocław (formerly Breslau), a city burdened by memories of war and forced displacement, to show the dynamics between hegemonic memories, dominant memories and countermemories. After the fall of communism, the city changed the previous nationalist-communist narrative of its past by institutionalizing a new official narrative that promotes cosmopolitan memory. The authors investigate how these local, "Europeanized" politics of memory have since 2015 been confronted by exclusionary narratives of Polish memory and identity that the Polish national government strives to make hegemonic. The study pinpoints the successful maneuvers of the liberal local government determined to resist this nationalist pressure.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
countermemories, hegemonic narratives, local memory, nationalist pressure, Wrocław
in
History and Memory
volume
34
issue
2
pages
26 pages
publisher
Indiana University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85172181272
ISSN
0935-560X
DOI
10.2979/histmemo.34.2.02
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
37379883-96b4-45f8-be7d-7c7c4dec623c
date added to LUP
2023-12-28 09:52:57
date last changed
2023-12-28 09:54:47
@article{37379883-96b4-45f8-be7d-7c7c4dec623c,
  abstract     = {{<p>This article uses the Polish case of Wrocław (formerly Breslau), a city burdened by memories of war and forced displacement, to show the dynamics between hegemonic memories, dominant memories and countermemories. After the fall of communism, the city changed the previous nationalist-communist narrative of its past by institutionalizing a new official narrative that promotes cosmopolitan memory. The authors investigate how these local, "Europeanized" politics of memory have since 2015 been confronted by exclusionary narratives of Polish memory and identity that the Polish national government strives to make hegemonic. The study pinpoints the successful maneuvers of the liberal local government determined to resist this nationalist pressure.</p>}},
  author       = {{Törnquist-Plewa, Barbara and Pietraszewski, Igor}},
  issn         = {{0935-560X}},
  keywords     = {{countermemories; hegemonic narratives; local memory; nationalist pressure; Wrocław}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{7--32}},
  publisher    = {{Indiana University Press}},
  series       = {{History and Memory}},
  title        = {{Cosmopolitan Memories under Pressure : The Case of Postcommunist Wrocław}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.2979/histmemo.34.2.02}},
  doi          = {{10.2979/histmemo.34.2.02}},
  volume       = {{34}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}