Memory Politics in the Polish Samizdat Stamps of the 1980s

Memory Politics in the Polish Samizdat Stamps of the 1980s

by Julia Golachowska, visual artist and PhD student, Jagiellonian University

Madonnas, 19th century uprisings, and anti-nazi struggle—Polish Cinderella stamps evoke various historical and national motives. Which historical figures are they portraying as heroes? What events from the past are commemorated? What historical parallels are made? This presentation investigates the emerging politics of memory present in Polish samizdat stamps from the 1980s.  The analysis of iconography of Solidarność’ philately aims to describe the different strategies used by its creators, to situate them in the context of the debates among the opposition, and to compare them to the official politics of memory of the time.

This project incorporates visual and discourse analysis and contributes to the research on samizdat publications of the Polish democratic opposition. While it is impossible to estimate the exact number of the samizdat post stamps issued in that time, scholars agree on the abundance of the underground ephemera of the period. While philately created in the 1980s might be seen as an attempt to establish an alternative mnemonic canon, it is also as a significant commemorative practice.