Cross purposes

Titel: Cross purposes : catholicism and the political imagination in Poland / Magdalena Waligórska
Verfasser:
Ausgabe: First paperback edition
Veröffentlicht: Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2024
Umfang: 376 Seiten : Illustrationen
Format: Buch
Sprache: Englisch
Schriftenreihe/
mehrbändiges Werk:
New studies in European history
Einheitssachtitel: A cultural history of the cross in the polish political imagination
Schlagworte:
ISBN: 9781009230971

No other symbol is as omnipresent in Poland as the cross. This multilayered and contradictory icon features prominently in public spaces and state institutions. It is anchored in the country's visual history, inspires protest culture, and dominates urban and rural landscapes. The cross recalls Poland's historic struggles for independence and anti-Communist dissent, but it also encapsulates the country's current position in Europe as a self-avowed bulwark of Christianity and a champion of conservative values. It is both a national symbol - defining the boundaries of Polishness in opposition to a changing constellation of the country's Others - and a key object of contestation in the creative arts and political culture. Despite its long history, the cross has never been systematically studied as a political symbol in its capacity to mobilize for action and solidify power structures. Cross Purposes is the first cultural history of the cross in modern Poland, deconstructing this key symbol and exploring how it has been deployed in different political battles.s been deployed in different political battles.s been deployed in different political battles.s been deployed in different political battles.