Wirus i pamięć. Wątki mnemoniczne w pamiętnikach z czasów koronawirusa

Abstract

The paper aims at analyzing mnemonic tendencies arising from data collected as part of the “Pandemic Diaries” competition. The text focuses on the similarities drawn by authors between the COVID-19 pandemic narratives and past events, also including those of which the author did not bear any personal, physical memory or which concerned only a limited group within a Polish society. Authors analyze the collected material in three dimensions: perceiving the coronavirus pandemic as a period of war in which the virus acts as the enemy; national framing of the coronavirus and the pandemic and experiencing material shortages and referring to historical strategies for coping with those. Such a mnemonic construction of pandemic experiences allows individual attitudes to be inscribed in the historical continuity of the entire history of the Polish nation. Thanks to the analogies between their own behavior and the heroic deeds of their ancestors – undefined, unspecified – the authors become the heir of the most heroic chapters of modern history, mainly those related to the struggle for the survival and freedom of the nation and transformed their isolated demeanors into a part of collective experience.

Keywords

• diaries
• COVID-19 pandemics
• collective memory
• martial law
• Word War II