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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.
List of contents
Introduction: how historical cultures change and how we can study this Part I: Past roots and contemporary manifestations of differences in the historical cultures of Poland and Ukraine 1. Polish-Ukrainian historical controversies: an overview 2. Politics of memory in Ukrainian-Polish relations: Poland’s hyper-activeness and Ukraine’s reactiveness 3. Towards an intellectual genealogy of the conservative turn in contemporary Poland: the case of Arcana magazine 4. Contemporary social actors of memory, vis-a-vis the 1939‒47 Polish-Ukrainian conflict: typology and interactions 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 6. Scholar, organizer, witness, and more: multiple roles of history teachers in contemporary Ukraine 7. Nation-building and school history lessons in Ukraine after 2014 8. Culture of peace in development and regression: Ukrainian culture in Polish culture in the twentieth century and today 9. Opponents in battle, allies in suffering: a dualistic picture of Poland and Poles in Ukrainian history textbooks 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 11. Historical references in Ukrainian media Part IV: History, collective memory, and social actors in the local communities 12. Memory capital in a local community: the Wąchock case study 13. The Chyhyryn remembrance node Afterword
About the author
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.
Summary
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.
