Izolda Topp
Arts & Cultural Studies Review, Issue 1 (11) , 2012, pp. 12 - 25
https://doi.org/10.4467/20843860PK.12.001.0641
The Way. Searching for the polish mnemotopos in Lower Silesia
Polish memory was mainly founded by mythology of Polish romanticism. The way is one of its symbolic form, connecting peoples destiny, national history, catholic faith and landscape of former Eastern Borderlands. The article is devoted to analysis of the way as a memory image of the inhabitants of the Lower Silesia resettled here after the Second World War. It is based on the photos taken by local farmer in late fifties. The author distinguished three symbolic modes of the way as a memory image in particular small village community: axis mundi; passage; pilgrimage. According to him, catholic religion play crucial role in construction of Polish memory and national identity in Lower Silesia after the war.