Authors

Discussion

In the past fifteen years, postcolonial perspectives have become increasingly significant in Polish studies. One key focus in Polish postcolonial studies has been the Regained Territories, the colonization/ Polonization process of which after 1945 has attracted scholarly attention particularly in critical analysis of literary discourse. This paper extends this postcolonial perspective to the socio-cultural history of the region, especially Lower Silesia, exploring it through the concept of internal colonization, which highlights spatial inequalities between a country’s center and peripheries.

The Regained Territories, as sites of internal colonization and assimilation, held a unique place in socialist Poland’s centralized structure. While these areas received special social and cultural investments postwar, they remained under strong control of the socialist regime, through redistributive policies and censorship. Focusing on local cultural actors, this paper reconstructs their struggle for agency and examines how they contributed to shaping distinct local identities within the confines of assimilationist cultural policies.

The chronological scope of the paper extends from 1956 to 1989, a period divided into two phases. The first phase, lasting approximately 15 years after 1956, is often regarded as a flourishing era for cultural life in Lower Silesia, during which various local cultural associations emerged. Through an analysis of their publications, the paper reveals that these organizations strategically collaborated with the Polish ethno-regionalist discourse imposed by the central government. This cooperation allowed local cultural actors to carve out space for their own initiatives within an unequal center-periphery dynamic and to foster distinct local identities.

The second phase, covering the last 15 years of the socialist period, is characterized by growing antagonism between the central government and local actors. After the stagnation of the 1970s, frustration for the enduring spatial inequalities mounted among both oppositional intellectuals and members of officially sanctioned cultural associations. An analysis of their publications shows how local actors sought to change their strategy and gradually distance themselves from the colonizing/Polonizing discourses they had previously accepted.

The conclusion will explore how these cultural actors contributed to the region's internal colonization, the extent to which they finally transcended these discourses, and the lasting impact of their efforts on today's cultural landscape in the region.