O rozterkach biografki, czyli jak opowiedzieć o życiu na pograniczach

Abstract

This paper describes the process of developing the idea for a book that ultimately took the form of a biography. I describe the concept of this book as well as my doubts related to the challenge of combining a scholarly study in the field of history with the literary values of a biography. I refer to the methodology of biographical research applied by sociologists, the experiences of historians working with ego documents, and to the discourse of literary studies scholars. In contrast to those researchers who place biographies on the periphery of these disciplines, I believe that well-written biographies can generate new impulses in the humanities. My notion of a “biography of the middle” found its embodiment in the form of a book titled Życie na pograniczach. Zbigniew Anthony Kruszewski. Biografia (Life in the Borderlands. Zbigniew Anthony Kruszewski. A Biography).

Keywords

• biography
• history of everyday life
• biographical interview
• oral history