Memory studies in Poland during the interwar period

The paper is focused on the emergence and development of Polish memory studies (late 1890s-1939). National schools of memory studies are mostly underdeveloped except in French, German and American traditions. Polish contribution to the theory of social (cultural) memory is still poorly explored, and the present paper tries to fill this gap in the history of memory studies. The author analyzes the methods and approaches of such Polish scholars as L. Krzywicki, K. Kelles-Krauze, J. Chalasinski, F. Znaniecki, and special attention is paid to Stefan Czarnowski, a classic of Polish sociology and an author of important concept of historical sociology of culture. The ideas of Polish scholars made an impact on the practices of nation building influenced by the developments in Poland where the process of the restoration of the state was under way during this period. The memoirs contests organized in the Second Polish Republic are considered to be an "institute of memory" created by the Polish intellectuals, and a vehicle to transform an autobiographical memory into national one. The author concludes that between the wars Poland was actively included in world academic process when the first research programs and theoretical approaches to phenomenon of collective memory had been emerging. In this regard the Polish thought was closely related to the international Marxist (although in a specific version opposed to economism and radical positivism that dominated the field in the late 19th century), French (the school of Durkheim) and American (the Chicago school of sociology) academic contexts.