The project objective is to develop unique and previously unexplored source material, namely audio literature (non-fiction and fiction audio programmes as well as journalistic broadcasts) produced by Polish Radio in Warsaw (PR Reportage and Documentary Studio and PR Theatre) – the centre and 16 regional PR stations – the periphery on the subject of the Holocaust and Polish-Jewish relations. The project is situated at the intersection of cultural studies, memory research and the humanities, and aims to examine the ways in which the Holocaust has been articulated and represented in radio genres in Poland from the end of the war to the present day. An analysis of broadcasts produced over several decades will answer the following questions: How was the Holocaust presented in Poland immediately after the war? What was important in the narrative in 1968, what details dominated in the 1990s, and what narrative emerged after 2000? What social discourse are we dealing with today? How does memory work over the years?
I have been dealing with the subject of the Holocaust and its presence on the radio for several years. Confronting it evokes an ever-growing, albeit absurd, desire to turn back time in me so that what happened would never have happened. The memory of the people, places and objects associated with the Shoah remains contemporary. Over the years, radio has addressed the subject of the Holocaust in its artistic and journalistic forms in a manner analogous to its presence in other media, including traditional literature. However, the dominant feature of artistic radio is its focus on microhistory, personal history, consisting of the experiences of individuals. A great advantage and unique feature of the studied source material studied will be the semiotic material in which it was produced. Storytelling through sound opens up new interpretative possibilities for the audience, has a specific effect on the imagination and stimulates emotions. It offers a new perspective on important historical and literary material
– explains Dr Joanna Bachura-Wojtasik, the project manager.
The project activities will include, among other things, conducting searches in the archives of Polish Radio and 16 regional stations, compiling a register of broadcasts and substantive descriptions of audio literature recordings, scientific preparation of materials for the project website, and preparation of audio resources to be deposited in the University Lodz Repository, the scientific development and preparation of a comprehensive monograph and five articles on the broadly understood sound literature on the Holocaust, as well as the development of scripts and recording of a series of podcasts in Polish and English on the role of radio and sound culture in communicating about the Shoah over the years and on post-memory in sound literature.
In addition to Dr Bachura-Wojtasik, the research team also includes: Dr Anita Jarzyna (University of Lodz), dr hab. Marta Tomczok (University of Silesia in Katowice), dr hab. Lucyna Sadzikowska (University of Silesia in Katowice), dr hab. Grażyna Stachyra (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University), Dr Eliza Matusiak (University of Lodz), Dr Adam Sitarek (University of Lodz), Grzegorz Zgondek (IT specialist, University of Lodz), Dr Anna Zatora (employee of the University of Lodz Repository), and Dr Joanna Podolska (University of Lodz).
The project activities will be carried out between 2025 and 2030. The funding obtained amounts to PLN 1,318,801.44.
Photo by Bartosz Fatek
