Miejsca pamięci w turystyce historycznej po Górnym Śląsku

Abstract

The text is the combination of theoretical refection and the speculations on the subject of the role of memorial sites in the area of Upper Silesia Region (fr. les lieux de memoire, ger. Erinnerungsorte), in the perception suggested by Pierre Nora. It is an attempt to categorize the memorial sites in the Upper Silesian space (especially in the context of the region as the former borderland) and their usage within the contemporary heritage tourism. The author, taking into consideration both material and non-material evidence of the past, introduced his own typology of this type of constructs, assigning eight different kinds, varying in character and determinants: recalled "oblivion" sites, recreated "forgotten sites," sites of "changeable affiliation," "post-industrial memorial sites," sites of "unintentional remembrance," sites of "memory restitution," "on the pedestal memory" sites, and memory through the literary works about the past. Each of the given groups is characterized in the article, and some specific examples which symbolize the places in the region, are shown.