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Theses on Collective Oblivion

Summary/Abstract: Nowadays, it is widely assumed that “discourse of memory” constitutes a vital supplement to historical discourse. However, the memory, both individual and collective, has its reverse side which is oblivion. Collective oblivion collects those elements of collective memory which have been either superseded from it or have not been admitted to it at all. The author assumes that likewise collective memory, collective oblivion is reflected in language, which implies that its linguistic signs of resistance (verbal exponents) are names of concepts, values and judgments. Thus, it is possible to imagine an attempt to reconstruct a particular mental construct which is ‘a linguistic map of Polish collective memory / oblivion’, an essential element of Polish ethnic identity. The author poses preliminary questions concerning methodology of the proposed reconstruction.

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