Życie kulturalne krakowskich mieszczan przełomu XIX i XX wieku w zapiskach autobiograficznych
Cultural life of the Turn-of-19th-Century Krakow Townspeople in Their Autobiographical Notes

Summary/Abstract: The article opens with the ‘burgher-philistine’ stereotype, so widespread in the Young Poland (modernist) period and so deeply rooted in views expressed in the late 19th/early 20th century as well as in later-date afterthought. A polemic with this image follows, with a focus on how diversified the townspeople milieu in fact was – with creative artists participating in it – and reference is made to the literature of personal document. The essay’s second part deals with related methodological issues. The distance between the scholar and his/her object turns out hard to overcome, whilst the dominance relationship remains there. Hence, the need appears to negotiate a different language and problematisation method.

• Details
• Contents