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Memorial plaques – small forms of collective memory

This research study explores the use of memorial plaques as a genre of collective memory in the city of Poznań, specifically focusing on the commemoration of Jewish and German citizens before WWII. Using a systematic method of semiotic analysis, the study examines the linguistic and visual elements of memorial plaques and their significance in memorializing historical figures. The study also analyzes the placement, materials, and language used in each plaque to understand the broader context and meaning behind the commemoration. The findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of how memorial plaques shape collective memory in urban landscapes.

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Memorial plaques – small forms of collective memory

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  1. Memorial plaques – small forms of collective memory Małgorzata Fabiszak & Anna Weronika Brzezińska

  2. Theoretical background Durkheim (1915) Halbwachs (1992) Olick (1999)

  3. Figures of memory Metonymictriggers of c. memory (J. Assmann 2010)

  4. Research goals • to develop a systematic method of semiotic analysis of memorial plaques as a specific genre of figures of memory • want to answer the question to what extent are the Jewish and German citizens of Poznań from before the WWII commemorated in the Poznan memorial landscape by means of commemoration plaques.

  5. Memorial plaques – method of selection • Linguistic landscape methodology • Tourist route through the Old Town, the Emperial Quarter, the Citadel • So far 42 plaques from the Old Town

  6. Analytic categories

  7. Paganini / Liszt / Wieniawski gave concerts here Position: slightly above eye level, easy to read Shape: rectangular Material: concrete Ornaments: two violins and a piano Memory figure: musicians/concerts Language: Polish

  8. Robert Remak – a doctor and scientist of three nations: Jewish, Polish, German Year of dedication: 26th of sept. 2005 Founder: PTHMiF (Polish Society of the History of Medicine and Pharmacy) Position: Well above human height Elements of context: On the building of the State Archive, opposite the building, in which he lived Material: concrete Shape: rectangular Ornaments: portrait medalion, lilliy of the valley Lg of inscription: Polish, Hebrew, German

  9. Elements of context

  10. Krzysztof Komeda Trzciński Ornament: portrait in base relief; piano keys of uneven size – visual metonymy for syncopation – metonymy for jazz

  11. Jan Paderewski Year of dedication: [1928] 1978 – memory of memory Founders: an association of the societies of the participants of the uprising in Wielkopolska vs. Wielkopolska society Topos of gemeinschaft vs. Topos of homogeneity

  12. The (in)visible plaque Ul. Podgórna 6 1837-1846 – Karol Marcinkowski lived here – commemorated with a plaque 1847 – Paul von Hindenburg was born here (plaque 1939-1945)

  13. Former Evangelical House • City Information System • Information not commemoration plaque • Material: plexi • Remembering but not commemorating

  14. Concluding remarks – 1/2 • The analyticgrid: • Position and elements of the context • Material: the meanings of concrete • Founders: societies vs. the society • Year of dedication: peaks in the 1950s (4), 1980s (5) and 2000s (3) (25 nd) • Commemorated Period: Partitions (19), Wielkopolska Uprising (6), post WWII (6) (Warning: the Citadel not includedyet) • …

  15. Concluding remarks 2/2 • Who and what do we commemorate on the plaques: • 5x musicians (Paderewski, Paganini, Wieniawski, Liszt, Komeda), 4x doctors (Marcinkowski, Struś, Chróściejowski, Remak), 4x writers (Sienkiewiczx2, Kraszewski, Fiedler), 2x social activists (Cegielski, Jaśkowiak, Szulc), 2x architects (Quadro, Zieliński), 1 bookseller (Żupański), 2x soldiers (Dąbrowski, Wybicki, Leszczyński) • 2x Jewish history (Remak, the Holocaust) • Prussian past remembered but not commemorated (information vs. Commemoration plaque)

  16. “Collective memory, collective identity and urban landscape: A case study of Poznan” Grant number 2013/09/B/HS6/00374 financed by the National Science Centre The project is conducted in a collaboration between Faculty of English, AMU and Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, AMU

  17. fagosia@wa.amu.edu.pl

  18. Some references • Carr, Gillian. 2011. “Examining the memorialscape of occupation and liberation:A case study from the Channel Islands”. International Journal of Heritage Studies DOI: 10.1080/13527258.2011.606330 • Durkheim, Émile. 1915. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Translated by Joseph Ward Swain. London: George, Allen and Unwin. • Halbwachs, Maurice. 1980. The Collective memory. Translated by Francis J. Ditter Jr and Vida Yazdi Ditter. New York: Harper and Row. • Kazimierczak, Jarosław. 2010. “Memorial plaques and monuments in Łódź-Śródmieście (the city centre district) commemorating people and events from the history of the city.” Tourism 20/1: 11-16. • Kempa, Andrzej – Marta Zawadzka. 2007. Tablice Pamięci. Łódź: Wojewódzka i Miejska Biblioteka Publiczna im. Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego w Łodzi. • Olick, Jeffrey K. 1999. “Collective memory: The two cultures”. Sociological Theory 17(3): 338-348.

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