Between raison d'etat, propaganda and identity: visions of the past in folk tales of the People's Republic of Poland and the GDR. A case study of Pomerania

Professor Bartosz Wojcik's lecture "Between raison d'etat, propaganda and identity: visions of the past in folk tales of the People's Republic of Poland and the GDR. A case study of Pomerania" is a companion event to the exhibition presented at Książnica Pomorska, "Learn Polish!" Solidarity, the GDR and the Stasi / "Lernt Polnisch!" Solidarność, die DDR und die Stasi.
Both the Polish People's Republic (PRL) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) saw themselves as state creations, representing a new opening in the history of both Polish and German statehood. Thus, both countries attached great importance to historical constructions. Their expression was present in a great many areas. One of them was folk tales - created mainly in the pre-war era, that is, before the establishment of the People's Republic of Poland and the GDR. The lecture sketches the historical constructions programmed by these countries, which, despite their external similarities both in terms of historical matter and their approach to folk tales, showed quite a few differences.