Romantic Memory

The book focuses on cultural memory preserved in the Polish Romantic literature, and still present in Polish public life. It depicts the Romantic project of transforming history into memory in the poetic texts of Mickiewicz, Sowacki and Norwid (as well as Byron and other European Romantics).

The book depicts the phenomenon of cultural memory preserved in the Polish Romantic literature, predominantly in the works of Mickiewicz, Sowacki, and Norwid (and other European poets). The primary objective is to reconstruct the cultural pattern of continuity established in Poland during the period of catastrophe. The author describes the call for a critical historiography and presents a "Slavic counterpoint" in the history of modern Europe. The key questions of the book are: Will the Romantic lesson about the transformation of history into memory and turning the past into an object of faith turn out to be a lesson about the future? The book is inspired by the German trend of contemporary reflection "the culture of remembrance" (Erinnerungskultur) founded on the works of the Assmanns.

Autorentext

Krzysztof Trybu is a Full Professor at the Polish Studies Institute at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznä, Poland. His research interests focus on the literature of Polish Romanticism, mainly the works of Norwid and Mickiewicz, as well as the problems of literary tradition and cultural memory.

Inhalt

Memory and Romanticism Sites of memory Romantic biography as a form of memory Mickiewicz's Slavic memory Old age assisting memory Sowacki's memory of the beginning Norwid's memory of Rome Romantic memory and contemporary memory Ritual and memory in Forefathers' Eve