Between Silesia and Texas : Silesian westerns of Józef Kłyk as an example of prosthetic memory

The article aims to present how the classical American western formula is used to build and preserve memory about Silesian history. Jozef Kłyk, one of the most recognizable amateur fi lm makers from the Silesia region, adopted the classical western form to tell stories based on Silesian emigration to Texas in the nineteenth century. He was inspired by Andrzej Brozek’s work: Ślązacy w Teksasie. Relacje o najstarszych osadach polskich w Ameryce (1972) and since late 1970s, together with the local community members of Bojszowy village he has been making films telling the stories of Silesian emigrants and, through these stories, presenting Silesian culture and tradition. Kłyks’ activities exemplify Alison Landsberg’s observations on the crucial role of mass culture in creating memory, which she calls the prosthetic memory – a new form of cultural memory in which mass culture texts act as a prosthesis between an individual and a historical narrative about the past.