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10
WaitingforanKExplosionofMemory’
LechWałęsa,thelegendaryleaderoftheSolidaritymovementandthe1980swork-
ers’strikes,whobecamePresidentoftheRepublicofPoland,todayisbeingharassed
duetohisallegedconnectionswiththecommunistsecurityservices,andheisvir-
tuallyabsentfromthenewpropagandaversionofhistory.Hisplacehasbeentaken
byminormembersoftheSolidarityunderground,whoarenowinpowerandwho
assumetherankofnationalheroes.
TelateBronisławBaczko,Polishphilosopherandhistorianofideas,whowas
forcedtoleavePolandin1968,inhisbookWyobrażeniaspołeczne.Szkiceonadziei
ipamięcizbiorowej[SocialImaginings:SketchesonHopeandCollectiveMemory]
(1994[1984]),wroteaboutthephenomenonofKexplosionofmemory.’Ittakes
placewhenasociety,facedwithsometurbulentpoliticalevents,suddenly,sponta-
neouslyfeelstheurgetoimmerseitselfinitshistory,toreturntocollectivememory,
whichhelpsitrebuildacommunalidentityandbraceitselfagainstcurrentthreats.
IdeeplyhopethatsuchanKexplosionofmemory’ispending—notonlyinPoland.
Meanwhile,theReaderisoleredabookinwhichtheproblemsofmemory,forget-
tingandcreatinghavebeenexaminedfromabroadinterdisciplinaryperspective.
Researchinsociology,psychologyandculturalstudiesisjuxtaposedherewithchap-
tersonmemoryinliterature,film,themediaandvisualarts.Ourauthorslookatthe
mutualrelationsbetweenmemoryandimagination,fantasisingandmanipulating,
forgettingandcreating.Partoftheaimofthisbookisnotonlytocontributetoaca-
demicknowledgeonthenatureofhumanmemory,butalsotoinspiresocialinitia-
tivesopposingtheappropriationofcollectivememoryforshort-termpoliticalgoals.
WojciechOwczarski
Gdańsk,January2017
References
Baczko,B.(1994)[1984].Wyobrażeniaspołeczne.Szkiceonadzieiipamięcizbiorowej,transl.
M.Kowalska.Warszawa:PWN.
Halbwachs,M.(1992)[1941].OnCollectiveMemory,ed.andtransl.L.A.Coser.Chicago:
UniversityofChicagoPress.
Hirsch,M.(1997).FamilyFrames:Photographs,NarrativeandPostmemory.London:Har-
vardUniversityPress.
White,H.(1973).Metahistory:TeHistoricalImaginationinNineteenth‑CenturyEurope.
Baltimore:JohnHopkinsUniversityPress.
