Iconic images of the Polish Nation

Barney 16 | 1651

8 May 2009 / #1

What are the defining images of Poland?

I suppose the enthronement of JP2

Solidarity

Jaruzelski's declaration of martial law

German soldiers taking the surrender of AK soldiers.

There has got to be still images of individual acts and their aftermaths

Songs
Film
Paintings
Graffiti
Stories
Nursery rhymes
Images of Migration
Population shift

What images of whatever type, are instantly recognisable as defining moments in Polish life that speak louder than the immediate act.

Is there a "Terrible Beauty" that Polish people know but find hard to explain to foreigners.

McCoy 27 | 1268

9 May 2009 / #2

leave the comments like chopins one. they show that someone is interested in topic and encourage posters to add new things.

fred_chopin

9 May 2009 / #3

Excellent Postings Gentlemen. I look forward to more.

OP Barney 16 | 1651

9 May 2009 / #4

Thanks for those McCoy.

The Horse, has it played a central part in Polish iconography?

In Mexico a lot of traditional songs are about fine horses and traitorous women.

The war against the soviets I understand that.

18 years of freedom is the same span of time between the Warsaw rising and my birth, it seems such a short period of time now.

What I may be looking for is Poland’s Guernica, Poland’s Goya, an explanation of what makes the people tick. What is it that makes Poles such a proud nation?

In Ireland its cutting turf, growing spuds, keeping out of the rain, telling stories. Then the arty stuff.....Writers, musicians, not so much painters.

A good image of Ireland in the 80's was the Pony kept in an urban environment. That image is both a throwback to times past and an indicator of the clash of times to come. Yet the image says more than that.

Perhaps I'm asking for the impossible.

Eagle20 16 | 119

9 May 2009 / #5

Husaria