In most of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, oral history was initiated in the
circles of dissidents in the 1980s. Memories of the politically marginalised or persecuted
citizens were the source of insights into uncensored versions of recent past. Therefore
the term “a witness to history” is central to the “civic historiography”, which has been
developed in Poland.
After the fall of communism, the civic participation in the archiving, educating and
researching has been institutionalised and identifies itself as oral history.
The article presents epistemological and ethical paradoxes of the concept of “a witness
to history” in the light of social and linguistic practice, as well as its historiographical
and political usage. Examples of major oral history projects actively present in the public
space and state and public institutions, influencing oral history practice in Poland, are
presented. In the analysis of such institutions as the Warsaw Uprising Museum or the
Institute of National Memory, the author focuses on their definition of “a witness to history” and places their practices in the context of the politics of memory implemented in
Poland since 2005. Apart from the abovementioned powerful social players in the serious
game of memory, knowledge and imagination, there are, however, other social actors
contributing to the notion of oral history and creating an alternative vision of its tasks.
The author sketches two modes of the development of oral history in Poland – academic and public oral history – pointing at the concepts of ‘narrator’ and ‘a witness to
history’, and briefly summarises the main problems of contemporary dominant practice.
abstract in other languages:
Artiklis tutvustatakse Poola suulise ajaloo põhilisi kujunemissuundi
1980. aastatest alates kuni tänapäevani. Käsitletakse suulise ajaloo ilmnemise
institutsionaalseid, poliitilisi ja sotsiaalseid kontekste olukorras, kus suulise
ajaloo projektide keskseks kontseptsiooniks on olnud ajaloo tunnistaja. Artiklis tõstatatakse küsimus selle kontseptsiooni epistemoloogilistest ja eetilistest
probleemidest, mis pärinevad ajajärgust, mil suuline ajalugu hakkas Poolas kodanikuõpetuse historiograafia (avaliku ajaloo) raames välja kujunema.
keywords in english:
oral history, Poland, politics of memory, public history, a witness to history
keywords in other languages:
ajaloo tunnistaja, avalik (ametlik) ajalugu, mälupoliitika, Poola, suuline ajalugu
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