In Vnutri mysliashchikh mirov, Łotman claims that there is a connection between cultural memory and the nature of culture itself. In this article I attempt to respond to this hypothesis in regards to the relationship between cultural memory and the idea of culture, while in the context of writings by Jurij Łotman and Boris Uspienski. Based on their work on this subject, I conclude that culture could not exist if there would be no cultural memory, nor changes within the duration and fabric of said memory. As such, an analysis of cultural memory while utilizing the methadology of the Moscow-Tartu school may also answer lingering questions about culture in general. It follows, therefore, that if investigating the connection between the formation of culture and the construction of cultural memory is a fruitful means of analyzing cultural history, then this may also be a legimitate method for our analysis of history in general.

The paper is a conversation about Wojciech Wrzosek's biography and academic work. It describes his university education at Adam Mickiewicz University, especially his participation in the seminars of Jerzy Topolski and Jerzy Kmita. The paper goes on to outline the subsequent stages of Wrzosek's academic career, his research travels abroad and the leading of the Interdisciplinary History Seminar, which was intended as a continuation of Topolski's seminar. The paper also discusses Wrzosek's two books – History – Culture – Metaphor and On Historical Thinking – their intellectual genealogy, context of their writing and reception.