Zatajone konflikty. Relacje etniczne na Wileńszczyźnie w dwudziestoleciu międzywojennym w świetle historiografii oraz ich przedstawienie w Kronice wypadków miłosnych T. Konwickiego

Abstract

The article analyzes selected historical, documentary and literary narratives dealing with ethnic relations in the Vilnius Region, with a particular focus on Tadeusz Konwicki’s novel Kronika wypadków miłosnych (1974). Konwicki’s novel employs a polonocentric perspective, for which there are several possible reasons: 1) the writer sought to imply the contrast between an ecumenical Vilnius community versus the reality of World War II, fi lled with interethnic hatred, 2) Konwicki’s Polish background accounts for the choice of such a perspective, 3) for the writer who grew up there, the Vilnius Region was a place tragically lost and impossible to recover, which contributed to the mythologization of the area; 4) at the time Konwicki wrote the novel, the martyrological and xenophobic discourse was widespread, therefore the undertones of Kronika wypadków miłosnych seemed acceptable, 5) Konwicki may have wanted to achieve a form of compensation rather than recreate the reality of the time.