Transformations of linguistic forms in Anna Kamieńska’s work on Notatnik

Abstract

This article is an attempt at answering the question about Anna Kamieńska editorial work on Notatnik. The discussion of the creative process applies to a manuscript fragment of the journal from the period 31 Oct 1971–15 Feb 1972, the work published in instalments in the 1970s in the W drodze periodical, and the book releases published in the 1980s. The analysis of editorial changes applies to selected linguistic forms. Those include, e.g., replacement of nouns with pronouns, diminutives with neutral forms or acronyms, questions with ascertainment, and the elimination of particles and first-person singular in verbs and pronouns. All of the listed interventions led to a shortening of passages and assigning them the nature of aphorisms.

Keywords

• notatnik
• anna kamieńska
• autobiographical literature
• creative process
• literary origins