Partition Narratives and Regions of Memory: Upper Silesia as a European Mnemo-Region

An online seminar by Professor Leszek Drong (University of Silesia) organised by the School of English, recorded January 26, 2023. “Partition narratives and regions of memory” will focus on Upper Silesia (a historical region in the south of Poland) and its history articulated in regional memory, which often stands in sharp contrast to national historical narratives taught in Polish schools. The point of this presentation is to tease out those aspects of collective memory that address unique concerns of the so-called ‘autochthons’, the native borderland population of Upper Silesia. A selection of contemporary Silesian writings (in English translation) will be scrutinized for memory traces of the partition that divided Upper Silesia in 1922 and then, in the course of the 20th century, was succeeded by other borders and boundaries in the region. The presentation will be chaired by Professor Eve Patten, Director, Trinity Long Room Hub. Leszek Drong is Professor of Humanities in the Institute of Literary Studies at the University of Silesia in Katowice. He is also Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Humanities as well as vice-president of the Polish Association for Irish Studies. Currently, until the end of February 2023, he is a visiting research fellow in the School of English, Trinity College Dublin. His most recent book was published in 2019: Tropy konfliktu. Retoryka pamięci kulturowej we współczesnej powieści północnoirlandzkiej [Troping the Troubles: The Rhetoric of Cultural Memory in Recent Novels from Northern Ireland]. He has also published in Orbis Litterarum, Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction and Estudios Irlandeses. His primary research interest is in the intersection of Irish studies, cultural memory studies and border studies. His current project, “Remembering Partitions and Repartitioning Memories in Contemporary Narratives from Northern Ireland and Upper Silesia,” explores parallels between the two regional remembrance cultures. Learn more at: https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/