Sporny charakter Zaolzia w świetle Dziennika Józefa Pilcha oraz innych wybranych narracji autobiograficznych

Abstract

The situation of Zaolzie, a historical and geographical part of Cieszyn Silesia, is complicated. Despite the years of appurtenance to Czechia and Chechoslovakia there is still active Polish residence and both nations continue to share their history. In this article I intend to show the tense Polish-Czech relationship in Zaolzie presented in Dziennik. Zapiski bibliofila i dziejopisa 1963–1995 by Jerzy Pilch, a writer and essayist from Ustroń. This will be shown in the context of local memory and activist memory stressing the Polishness of the region. It will be possible to analyze how the ideological dimension of the identity is interwoven with an effort to bring about a narrative restoration of Zaolzie, divided by an arbitrary border.