Symbolic presence without identification

Institutionalized cultural memory and youth reception of a religious figure in Poland

Bibliographic Data

ID24227474
AuthorsStanislaw Fel (0000-0003-3975-665X), J Kozak (0000-0003-1048-8575)
Year2026
Volume118-119
Pages102122
Publication date2026-10-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePoetics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0304-422X • E-ISSN: 1872-7514
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.poetic.2026.102122
OpenAlexW7220949127
LanguageEN
References cited36

This article examines how institutionalized cultural memory functions among young people in a context where symbolic saturation coexists with declining identification. Drawing on a nationally representative survey of Polish youth (n = 1029), we develop an empirical model to analyse how education, media use, and other institutional channels mediate the reception of a highly visible cultural figure who no longer belongs to the generation’s lived experience. Using the concept of postmemory as an analytical framework, the study operationalizes mediated memory transmission and tests whether institutional exposure translates into personal relevance or symbolic distance. The findings reveal a pronounced dissociation between symbolic presence and identity engagement. School education, religious instruction, and media exposure are associated not with stronger identification but with increased detachment, particularly in contexts shaped by critical media narratives and individualized media consumption. We argue that this pattern reflects a broader transformation of cultural memory in post-confessional societies: memory persists as a visible cultural resource while losing its performative and identificatory function. By empirically modelling the erosion of symbolic authority, the article contributes to sociological research on cultural transmission, media consumption, and the institutional production of meaning.

Identification · religious figures · religious memory · Memory, History, Trauma, Identity · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Polish-Jewish Holocaust Memory Studies

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