Pamięć kulturowa a zmiany w krajobrazie miasta. Analiza obchodów rocznicowych lokacji Olsztyna w świetle koncepcji Aleidy i Jana Assmannów

Abstract

The author begins her article with a presentation of selected tenets of the concept of cultural memory proposed by Jan and Aleida Assmann, and with reviewing analytical categories used within the framework of this theory, including the following terms: cultural memory, memory figures, memory media, a palimpsest. These concepts form a theoretical and methodological basis for the upcoming analyses. The analyses contained in the article focus around the issues of change and continuity in the cultural memory of the inhabitants of Olsztyn, as exemplified by the transformations of Olsztyn’s cityscape. The author considers two specific moments in the city’s history: 2003, which marked the 650-anniversary of the city’s settlement, and 1953, which marked the 600-anniversary of the same event. Both these anniversaries were naturally celebrated in totally diverse political and ideological contexts. The article focuses not only on the transformations of cityscape, connected to the building of new monuments, plaques, and symbols, and to the renovation of selected buildings, but also on different ways of interpreting cityscape and architectural elements of which it consists in different periods. The conclusions from the analysis form a basis for pointing out several recommendations and limitations for using the Assmanns’ concepts for researching local collective memory in Poland.