Outfit patriotism or how to love the fatherland living in the global village

In the age of mediatisation and commercialization, contemporary social memory is composed not of dates and historical facts but of visual identification, slogans and beams of values, so the components of popular brands which stimulate our consumable attitudes. As a result, the symbols of Polish Resistance Movement during World War II move  from historical and commemorative sphere to the sphere of pop culture. They appear on T-shirts, tattoos, murals, social media profiles and political banners and are used to clarify the present day through the prism of the past, to articulate citizens’ ideas, concerns and affinities. Some publicists call this phenomenon ’the outfit patriotism’ but in the meantime the academics keep the distance to the new memory techniques and forms explaining that common manifestation of national symbols and real interest in history are disconnected. They anxiously observe appropriating Polish symbols by nationalistic groups and recognize on T-shirts etc. not fashion, just tribal expression, the return to blinkered, stereotypical communication. The author of this article focuses on the grounds of outfit patriotism phenomenon and wonders whether it may become an instrument of social exclusion.

In the age of mediatisation and commercialization, contemporary social memory is composed not of dates and historical facts but of visual identification, slogans and beams of values, so the components of popular brands which stimulate our consumable attitudes. As a result, the symbols of Polish Resistance Movement during World War II move  from historical and commemorative sphere to the sphere of pop culture. They appear on T-shirts, tattoos, murals, social media profiles and political banners and are used to clarify the present day through the prism of the past, to articulate citizens’ ideas, concerns and affinities. Some publicists call this phenomenon ’the outfit patriotism’ but in the meantime the academics keep the distance to the new memory techniques and forms explaining that common manifestation of national symbols and real interest in history are disconnected. They anxiously observe appropriating Polish symbols by nationalistic groups and recognize on T-shirts etc. not fashion, just tribal expression, the return to blinkered, stereotypical communication. The author of this article focuses on the grounds of outfit patriotism phenomenon and wonders whether it may become an instrument of social exclusion.