Victimhood of the Nation as a Legally Protected Value in Transitional States – Poland as a Case Study

Abstract

Memory is both a blessing and a curse for nations with history marked by tragedy. In a moment of catastrophe memory is the ultimate weapon for a nation, the very last bastion of national self-defence [....]. Such memory creates beautiful national myths and elevates the past; it beautifies the ugly; the sins of its own community are thus doomed to be forgotten.

Forum: Theoretical Concepts of Shaping the Memory, edited by Sabina Ferhadbegović and Katerina Králová

“…In many cases, attempts to set the historical record straight have been resisted by laws to preserve victimhood as 'a legally protected value used to justify limitations of free speech and academic research'. 63 Victimhood has thus become an important component of hegemonic national understandings, collective autobiographies and national identities. 64…”

Extra-Legal Particularities and Illiberal Constitutionalism – The Case of Hungary and Poland

“…Narrative psychology provides a dynamic approach to understanding human identity and the process of making sense of our ever-changing world. 9 Thinking in narratives is everywhere -narratives are embedded in social interactions, in the works of professional authors and in stories of ordinary people. Many branches of psychology, such as cognitive studies of narratives and hermeneutic studies of narratives, deal with narratives.…”