Construction of the Cursed Soldiers in the individual consciousness of social activists in Wrocław

Abstract

The article presents an outcome of research performed as part of bachelor’s thesis on the construction of the collective memory of the Cursed Soldiers in the social activists in Wrocław. The application of narrative interviews and their analysis with help of tools introduced by the grounded theory allowed a description of ways of constructing the Cursed Soldiers’ picture. Social activists declare a will to hold conversation that is open for a dialog and based on reliable facts. At the same time, statements tend to lead toward an idealization of positive characters and focus on the eminent characters. In the case of controversial persons, the statements are carefully thought through. In the article, the social activists’ views of patriotism and nationalisms are also presented. Patriotism was perceived by means of the category of action, while nationalism by means of the category of thinking, which appears particularly interesting as it is usually presented by the sociological definitions in the opposite manner.