The (Non)Memory of “Ethnic Childhood” as a Dimension of Cultural Heritage

Abstract

Today, ethnic minorities have entered the second wave of emancipation. They are fighting for the right to cultural autonomy, the right to have their own past, history and social memory. The aim of the article is to learn how ethnic minorities “recover” lost social memory in the area of childhood memory and how they work to create ethnic identity again. The text is composed of four parts. The first presents selected aspects of childhood culture. The second is presents Pierre Nora’s concept of memory. The third is presents the results of research on selected ethnic literary texts (Kashubian and Silesian). The author’s conducted semantic and structural analyzes (in the approach of Roland Barthes and Paul Ricoeur). The analyzes allowed us to recognize ethnic childhood as a space of existential suffering and a time of loss of ethnic identity. The answer – in childhood and adulthood – are specific identity strategies. they are aids in constructing a new ethnic identity. The fourth part is Summary and reflection closing the text.