Pamięć rzeczy minionych. Kresy i literatura wobec współczesnego poczucia tożsamości

Abstract

Article shows the problems of cultural heritage and self-identification, giving examples based on the frontier themes in literature, particularly – on the themes of Kresy – the former east borderlands of Rzeczpospolita (Polish “Commonwealth”). The author studies cultural and axiological aspects of the frontier, giving examples of their realization in Polish literature. Besides, author pays attention to the problem of self-identification in modern world, in which a person can hardly identify himself with one or another culture. However, the memory of the heritage of a person’s motherland plays particular role, as it makes up his cultural and existential background.