The Wood Comes to Dunsinane Hill: Representations of the Katyn Massacre in Polish Literature

Abstract

The paper examines representations of the Katyn massacre in Polish literature in the context of the wider cultural memory of the tragedy in Poland. The paper discusses a range of representations of Katyn, from Wajda’s film to the poetry of Zbigniew Herbert, but focuses primarily on the fiction of Włodzimierz Odojewski. Referring to theories of Holocaust memory and trauma, such as those of Dominick LaCapra, Giorgio Agamben, and Cathy Caruth, the paper examines the nature of Katyn in Polish cultural memory as reflected in literature. The paper argues that, because of the specific nature of the massacre, to which no witnesses remained, memory discourse on Katyn becomes a discourse about memory, rather than of memory. Because of the lack of witness testimony, literature has avoided direct representations of the crime, which remains unseen and unknown. It is rather the cause of truth and the recognition of that truth by Russia, which stands for the perpetrator, that have become the focus of Katyn memory, rather than the event itself.