“The Charm of the PRL”. Memory Culture, (Post)Socialist Nostalgia and Historical Tourism in Poland

Abstract The article explores the mechanisms of memory culture and commercialization socialist heritage from period People’s Republic Poland (PRL) (from 1945 to 1989) as a tourist destination, societal practice cultural resource in today’s Warsaw. At intersection studies, historical tourism material culture, ethnographic analysis focuses on three empirical case studies examples commercial popularization history PRL. These are communist tours offered by WPT 1313 documentation at Museum Life PRL Neon . commodified products Warsaw’s entertainment fill gap market, based prototypical, nostalgic longing tourists for sensual emotional experience “authentic past”. This predominantly participant observation-based study practices, spaces, images agents filling this touristic niche, illustrates how they create sensual-emotive, aesthetic performative fields reifying, discovering experiencing past. Finally, paper these polyvalent shape infrastructure Warsaw oscillating between critical distancing entertaining appropriation heritage.