Memory as haunting

Abstract

Drawing upon recent scholarly studies on the figure of the ghost in the broad and interdisciplinary field of memory research, this article explores the potential of haunting metaphors to address past instances of violence that affect present cultural realities. Examining social, political and cultural contexts in which ghosts are produced and encountered, summoned and exorcised, the paper also provides a detailed reading of a specific spatio-temporality of the presence of the ghost: the Muranów district in Warsaw, haunted by the specters of its forgotten Jewish inhabitants.