Pamięć i kultura, czyli krytycznie o (mnemo)toposach
Memory and culture: A critical perspective on (mnemo)topoi

Summary/Abstract: Cultural-studies-oriented reflection on memory has a rich literature. Therefore, this article is not about just any reflection on memory, but one that treats issues relating to commemoration as central to cultural studies. Stefan Bednarek’s concept of mnemotopos is representative of this current. Bednarek’s theoretical proposal was built concerning Maurice Halbwachs, Pierre Nora and the rich Polish literature on cultural memory. The article poses the question of the benefits of a memory turn implemented in this way. To what extent is such an approach cognitively fruitful, and to what extent is it limited to a terminological refreshing of the language of considering culture? Does it lead, and if so—when, to a reductionist capacity to explain and understand cultural phenomena?

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