Open Access Unrestricted online access star

The authors were interested in the phenomena discussed in the Polish and foreign public debate as a sign of change in social awareness and a'new openness in Polish-Jewish relations' at the turn of the second decade of the twenty-first century. The authors pose a question as to whether we really face a new narrative about the past. The authors wanted to know whether, and to what extent, the conditions of the narrative have changed, together with the collective imaginarium contributing to the socio-cultural frame that organises the subject knowledge and is derived from research on the Holocaust, carried out in the last several years. The authors also asked whether, and how, the self-opinion of the dominant majority and its attitude to its own past and present have changed. Does the inclusion of all those who were formerly subjected to anti-Semitic violence happen? If yes, on what conditions? The authors examined Jolanta Dylewska's film Po-lin (2008), the re-enactment of the liquidation of the Będzin ghetto (2010), RafałBetlejewski's projects entitled Tęsknię za tobą, Żydzie[I miss you, Jew] and Płoniestodoła[The Burning Barn] (2010), commemorations of the ghetto footbridge over Chłodna Street in Warsaw (1996, 2007–2011), and Keret's House in Warsaw (2012). The analysis of these artistic initiatives and cultural events, backed by the best of intentions, led the authors to the conclusion that the voice of the minority introduced into the mainstream of discourse is subject to restricting requirements, pressures and hierarchies, which very much resemble the old forms of discrimination. Furthermore, definitional oppression towards the minority, which transforms a subject into an object, is neither deconstructed nor subjugated. Quite the opposite: it is doing well. It consists in philo-Semitic violence.

Creative Commons Licence cc by-nc-nd cc https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

pol

Freely available e-book