Haunting Pasts, Cancelled Futures: Polish and Argentinian Experiences of Postdependency

Authors

Ewa Kobyłecka-Piwońska, University of LodzFollow

Abstract

The aim of this article is to compare Polish and Argentinian experience of democratic transitions of the 1980s and 1990s. Establishing new political and economic orders in both countries did not entail a change in their citizens’ post-dependent mentality. In the first part of the paper, a connection is drawn between Polish and Argentinian collective memories in line with the methodology of transcultural memory studies (Erll, Rothberg). The post-dependent condition is articulated twofold: through the remembrance of the disappearance (of the Jews, the victims of the Argentina’s state terrorism, the indigenous peoples), and through the confusion in grasping the sense of the past, present and future (never having been critically reviewed, the past keeps haunting the present). The second part of the paper proposes a comparative interpretation of Igor Ostachowicz’s novel titled Night of the Living Jews (2013) and Mariana Enríquez’ short story “Kids Who Come Back” (2009). Both texts focus on the return of the disappeared, which triggers the deconstruction of unifying national narratives. The disgust inspired by ghosts who returned from the past appears to be a new narrative consolidating the social order.

Recommended Citation

Kobyłecka-Piwońska, Ewa. "Haunting Pasts, Cancelled Futures: Polish and Argentinian Experiences of Postdependency." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 26.2 (2024): <https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.4274>

This text has been double-blind peer reviewed by 2+1 experts in the field.