The battle for history is also a battle for identity - Igrzyska Wolności

The battle for history is also a battle for identity

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Poland’s regaining its independence, during the Freedom Games, we were tempted to consider the identity of our nation. The discussion was led by Magdalena Baran, whose interlocutors were: Janusz Palikot – former politician, author of many publications and leader of the Ruch party, Andrzej Leder – philosopher of culture, psychotherapist and associate professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Polish Academy of Sciences, and Piotr Augustyniak – Polish thinker and essayist, doctor habilitated in philosophy, lecturer at the University of Economics in Krakow.

The discussion began with a recall by Jacek Malczewski’s painting “Melancholy”, showing figures in the window, separated from the crowd. The symbolic separation can be understood as cutting away from our vices, stories that we hold in ourselves, as well as the past. In this way, Magdalena Baran went into the first question about the shape of Polish identity, how we think about it, what it is for us. Andrzej Leder said that this identity is torn. It is based on the battle for national pride and what we should be proud of, which should be a reason for our satisfaction. There are two very strong roads in this area. One is a pride that appeals only to glory. It is based on a history in which we battle. Regardless of the result, whether they are won or lost, we always feel winners. The second way is to pride who can take responsibility for shame. The first method is traditionally better understood by our society. Over the years, he has been tamed, and as a result is taken by us almost intuitively. Pride responsible for shame is relatively young in European culture. It appeared only in the twentieth century. It is about admitting what was wrong and at the same time remembering what was good. It is connected with maturity and the awareness that nobody is perfect.

Piotr Augustyniak defined national identity as a kind of ballast, which has once again been pulling society down and dividing it many times. The ballast force affects us all. According to the speaker: “The key to understanding the Polish situation and the division is to see what this division allows, what conditions it, and what links the Poles. I would call it post-traumatic ballast. We are a society largely shaped at the level of not only our consciousness created by a series of traumas that marked our society. ” Piotr Augustyniak further says that the path to rebirth is to accept suffering.

A completely different picture of identity is given by Janusz Palikot: “Poland is a hybrid of various invisibilities and shortcomings. Poland is a past-oriented hybrid. The shortcomings include the lack of basic mythology, the Slavic epic that all nations possess. We do not have a basic story. None causes some kind of cavity, cleansing from identity. “As Palikot says, making up for a shortage is difficult because the filling was made up with external elements. Poland exists on the border between Latin and Cyrillic. We are Catholic Slavs, it is a difficult hybrid: “In the absence of a basic myth, it causes the zombie”, we do not know what we want to be. We can not answer what it means to be Polish. A former politician advises to lead to his own death, bringing with it rebirth. In his speech, he referred to Wyspiański’s play, which carried out death on the stage of the theater, led to a breakthrough. Also today, power belongs not only to the ruling sphere, but also to the representatives of culture. The interviewees have repeatedly referred to the film “Kler” created by Wojciech Smarzowski in recent times. They agreed that it was a kind of purification of society.

What advice do the speakers have for us? Above all, we should start a dialogue. Many young people involved in the activities of specific political parties forget what dialogue is. They lose the ability to rise above divisions. Building a civil society as well as a common national identity requires cooperation. We can not just passively watch the actions of others and wait for the moment when they fail. We need to get involved in building the vision together; free the energy hidden in the units to turn it into a sustainable enterprise that will not go away when you return to everyday life.

Paulina Małota

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