Made in Sachsenhausen. Rekontekstualizacja i reapropriacja odwróconego różowego trójkąta wśród grup gejowsko-lesbijskich w Ameryce Północnej jako przykład kradzieży symbolicznej

Abstract

The processes of recontextualization and reappropriation are said to be the basic ways to neutralize the stigma that is imposed on the sexual minority groups. In light to such processes this article looks at the issue of changing connotations and meanings of the historically strongly conditioned symbol of the pink triangle. By the investigation of different contexts in which the symbol occurs today – commemorative, emancipatory, and connected with pop-culture – the authors undertake the reflection on the consequences related to the attempts to dis¬connect the pink triangle from the Holocaust symbolism. Additionally, through the usage of the theft metaphor, the authors pay attention to the fact that the limitations of property rights apply not only to material items, but also to symbolic values. On the basis the J. Butler’s performativity concept, A. Croom’s understanding of reappropriation and E. Goffman’s concept of social stigma, the paper analyzes the ways the pink triangle symbol is used in the framework of contemporary discourses created in the USA. The main question concerns the issue of property. To whom does the pink triangle belong? To the ex-prisoners for whom it is stigmatizing, or to LGBT groups, who wear it with pride, or maybe to the users of contemporary culture, who use it as a supplement to different kinds of gadgets?

Keywords

• pink triangle
• symbolism
• holocaust
• stigma
• pop culture