1st Edition

The Politics of Memory in Poland and Ukraine From Reconciliation to De-Conciliation

Edited By Tomasz Stryjek, Joanna Konieczna-Sałamatin Copyright 2022
    282 Pages 39 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    282 Pages 39 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Bringing together the work of sociologists, historians, and political scientists, this book explores the increasing importance of the politics of memory in central and eastern European states since the end of communism, with a particular focus on relations between Ukraine and Poland. Through studies of the representation of the past and the creation of memory in education, mass media, and on a local level, it examines the responses of Polish and Ukrainian authorities and public institutions to questions surrounding historical issues between the two nations. At a time of growing renationalization in domestic politics in the region, brought about by challenges connected with migration and fear of Russian military activity, this volume asks whether international cooperation and the stability of democracy are under threat. An exploration of the changes in national historical culture, The Politics of Memory in Poland and Ukraine will appeal to scholars with interests in memory studies, national identity, and the implications of memory-making for contemporary relations between states.

    Introduction: how historical cultures change and how we can study this

    Tomasz Stryjek and Joanna Konieczna-Sałamatin

    Part I: Past roots and contemporary manifestations of differences in the historical cultures of Poland and Ukraine

    1. Polish-Ukrainian historical controversies: an overview

    Andrii Portnov

    2. Politics of memory in Ukrainian-Polish relations: Poland’s hyper-activeness and Ukraine’s reactiveness

    Oleksandr Grytsenko

    3. Towards an intellectual genealogy of the conservative turn in contemporary Poland: the case of Arcana magazine

    Volodymyr Sklokin

    4. Contemporary social actors of memory, vis-a-vis the 1939‒47 Polish-Ukrainian conflict: typology and interactions

    Marek Wojnar

    Part II: State historical education: goals, values, content, performers, and mechanisms

    5. What history? What homeland? The nationalization of history in the school education before the breakthroughs in 2014–15 and after

    Marta Studenna-Skrukwa

    6. Scholar, organizer, witness, and more: multiple roles of history teachers in contemporary Ukraine

    Natalia Otrishchenko

    7. Nation-building and school history lessons in Ukraine after 2014

    Kateryna Pryshchepa

    8. Culture of peace in development and regression: Ukrainian culture in Polish culture in the twentieth century and today

    Andrzej Szpociński

    9. Opponents in battle, allies in suffering: a dualistic picture of Poland and Poles in Ukrainian history textbooks

    Dagmara Moskwa

    Part III: Media as a creator and a transmitter of representations of the past

    10. History and the media: historical discourse in the Polish media on the 100th anniversary of Poland’s independence

    Marek Troszyński

    11. Historical references in Ukrainian media

    Lyudmyla Males and Bohdan Motuzenko

    Part IV: History, collective memory, and social actors in the local communities

    12. Memory capital in a local community: the Wąchock case study

    Barbara Markowska

    13. The Chyhyryn remembrance node

    Grzegorz Demel

    Afterword

    Volodymyr Sklokin

    Biography

    Tomasz Stryjek is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Research on Eastern Europe's History and Memory at the Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland.

    Joanna Konieczna-Sałamatin is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Sociology at the University of Warsaw, Poland.