Jak zapamiętujemy pandemię? Praktyki konstruowania pamięci o pandemii COVID-19 w Polsce

The article concerns the issue of constructing a narrative about the pandemic until early autumn 2022, i.e. the moment when the state of epidemic threat in Poland was officially lifted. This allowed for the analysis of issues related to the formation of memory about a historically close event, considered from the perspective of individuals. The author considers issues such as the way of narrating the COVID‑19 pandemic, ideas about the pandemic, the symbolism indicated by the interlocutors, as well as selected processes and mechanisms that affect the way of perceiving, telling and remembering about a new and previously unexperienced threat. The analyses are mainly based on selected 45 in‑depth qualitative interviews conducted in 2022. The author also refers to interviews conducted with the same people in 2020 and 2021, treating the previous statements as a context and sometimes an explanation or supplement to the content that was formulated in 2022. Interviews constituting the basis for the analyses were conducted with people of different ages and in different life situations (independent adults up to 35 years of age, parents living with children, seniors aged 65 and over), living in various parts of Poland, both in rural areas in small towns and voivodeship capitals. The analyses refer to theoretical concepts presented, among others, by researchers of memory considered in the social dimension, referring to Maurice Halbwachs, such as Aleida Assmann, Jan Assmann, and Astrid Erll.