(Nie)obecne w lokalnej pamięci kulturowej na przykładzie Rozmów o Śląsku Cieszyńskim

Abstract

The author examines the question of cultural memory reflected in two volumes of the book Talks about Teschen Silesia. They contain 35 interviews conducted by a journalist and historian Andrzej Drobik with 35 outstanding people connected with that region. Paying attention to various elements of the local and cultural memory, they represent different views on the history and identity of that place. Some aspects of the past presented by them refer to multicultural community, in which Polish, German, Czech, Jewish etc. elements coexisted. In the article, they are analyzed through the prism of historical consciousness, that is functioning and using the convictions about the past, including creating of the regional politics of memory. In the article, they are analyzed through the prism of historical awareness, that is, the functioning and use of beliefs about the past, including the creation of a regional memory policy. Notwithstanding the phenomenon of memory boom, Śląsk Cieszyński also has many issues left in the collective memory – e.g. German contribution to the development of Cieszyn, or complicated fates of Polish minoriy in so called Zaolzie. These and other issues are considered by the author in the light of above-mentioned interviews, which, however, carry more questions than conclusions, thus they are only a starting point for reflection.