Abstract
This article examines the mobilization of historical memory as a resource for cultural diplomacy through the medium of the museum. Noting the increasing trend for states to incorporate “dark heritage” of conflict into their cultural diplomacy strategies, the article examines the recent case of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk, which has been heavily criticized by the current Polish government for its alleged failure to convey an adequately heroic account of the war to both domestic and foreign audiences. The article demonstrates that the current Polish government has placed great importance on historical memory as a means of persuading European partners of the validity of its vision of European history and of Poland’s place within the contemporary European project. However, in its approach to the Museum of the Second World War, we argue, the Polish government has not developed an effective strategy for mobilizing historical memory to influence others. This case study allows us to demonstrate the potential pitfalls of drawing on historical memory in the context of cultural diplomacy.
Highlights
The phenomenon of cultural diplomacy broadly encompasses the state’s mobilization of a nation’s cultural resources (Clarke 2016: p. 3), including art, literature, museums, and heritage sites, in the service of its soft power agenda
In 2015, less than 2 years before the Museum of the Second World War was due to open, PiS returned to power and sought to bring about a reorientation of Polish foreign policy that was closely linked to its attempts to shape Polish historical memory, in terms of its prevailing narrative, and in terms of the way in which it would be presented to partners from both Western and Central and Eastern Europe as an expression of Poland’s relationship to them
It seems clear that the PiS government in Poland has set great store in the potential of historical memory to serve as a soft power resource in this way, believing that it can begin to re-shape its own domestic public’s perception of the country’s relationship to Europe and the integration process, and its EU’s partners’ perceptions of Poland’s place within European history and, of its proper place in Europe’s future
Summary
The phenomenon of cultural diplomacy broadly encompasses the state’s mobilization of a nation’s cultural resources (Clarke 2016: p. 3), including art, literature, museums, and heritage sites, in the service of its soft power agenda. We will focus on state policy in the Polish case, while seeking to identify the consequences of a new trend towards the mobilization of historical memory as a resource for cultural diplomacy. Bull, and Deganutti argue that Slovenia has mobilized the material heritage of this difficult past to promote an image of itself as a broker of understanding between regional neighbors, tapping into an EU-led memory culture that focuses on the overcoming of past conflict through the commemoration of the suffering caused by European wars As it moved towards European Union membership, Poland drew upon historical memory of war, and on its fate in the Second World War, to present itself as a reliable future partner in the European integration process. The discussion of the Polish case in this article will contribute to an expansion of the scope of the study of memory politics in its international dimension
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