Abstract
This article examines the intersection of spectral poetics and postmemory in Eastern European poetry after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Drawing on Marianne Hirsch's concept of postmemory and the notion of spectrality as a critical framework, the study analyzes poems from Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic that engage with traumatic histories of war, occupation, and state violence. The methodology combines close reading with discourse analysis of selected poetic works published between 1990 and 2020, focusing on how poets use ghostly imagery, fragmented narratives, and intertextual references to transmit memory across generations. Results reveal three dominant spectral strategies: the invocation of absent presences, the use of ruin and landscape as memory archives, and the embodiment of trauma in the poetic voice. These strategies enable poets to negotiate the tension between personal and collective memory, challenging official historical narratives. The discussion interprets these findings as evidence of a distinctive Eastern European spectral poetics that both appropriates and transforms Western theories of postmemory. Theoretical implications include a rethinking of postmemory as a transnational phenomenon, while practical implications suggest applications in memory studies and literary pedagogy. Limitations include the small sample size and focus on canonical poets, which may not represent the full diversity of the region. Future research should extend the analysis to lesser-known poets, other media, and comparative studies with other post-authoritarian contexts. The article concludes that spectral poetics offers a powerful lens for understanding how poetry negotiates the haunting legacies of the past in the present.