PiS as mnemonic warriors. A comparative analysis of changes and continuity of memory narratives in the election campaigns 2015 and 2023

Abstract

In contemporary Poland, the politics of memory have emerged as a key site of national identity formation and political legitimacy. The Law and Justice Party (PiS) has emerged as a pivotal political force in shaping historical narratives, rendering collective memory a tool of governance, a means of exclusion, and a device for populist mobilisation. While attempts to post-communist European memory politics have continued to rise, comparative, digital, and discourse analyses of how mnemonic narratives evolve within the same political party over time remain rare. This thesis examines how PiS has served as a "mnemonic warrior"during the 2015 and 2023 election campaigns by analysing how narratives of victimhood, betrayal, and national purity are constructed, reinterpreted, and disseminated through both traditional and new media. Using a mixed-methods design combining Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Digital Ethnography, the study examines party manifestos, media coverage, and social media accounts. The research employs the Discourse-Historical Approach to CDA and uses tools such as 4CAT and Zeeschuimer for gathering and analysing online material. Through examination, clear consistency in PiS’s practices of memory is identifiable, and these hinge upon selective victimhood, elite delegitimisation, and historical revisionism. But the 2023 campaign demonstrates an intensification of digital approaches, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), where previous stories are re-authored in emotive, moralising, and exclusionary narratives aimed at constructing a closed memory community. The study contributes to the understanding of right-wing populist actors weaponising memory to advance polarisation and suppress pluralism. It highlights the necessity of temporally comparative and interdisciplinary study of memory politics, particularly in relation to increasing influence.