Abstract. This report was presented during the jubilee session of the Academic Council at the Russian Institute for Cultural Research and dedicated to the analysis of the memory studies vital problems. The author addresses the issues of applying related theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of Russian–Polish relations, examines the basic ideas of the “memorial paradigm” and their significance for contemporary cultural research. The paper displays the reasons of actualising these problems within the contemporary sociocultural and political contexts, reveals particular features of the nation building in Poland and the influence of historical memory images on the former. The author considers the basic “memorial narratives” of Polish national identity and shows the importance of making allowances for their influence on the strategy development in building up Russian–Polish relations.