Article Title：Forgotten Epic: Polish Memoir Writing Competitions and Literature
Abstract：
The article highlights the exceptionally rich and important Polish tradition of memoir writing competitions and related publications; in the twentieth century exceeding 1500 such events! From the very beginning, the competitions sparked lively discussions and raised questions about the place of competition memoirs in modern Polish literature. For example, after the publication of Jakub Wojciechowski's 1930 2yciorys w & lstrok;asny robotnika (Autobiography of a Laborer) or the 1935-1936 Pamigtniki ch & lstrok;op & oacute;w (Peasant Memoirs). The article contextualizes the relationship between personal document and literature while attempting a definition of folk literature. Against Andrzej Leder's notion of unwritten epic, the article posits that the thousands of competition memoirs and journals represent a very significant - albeit largely forgotten - component of an epic about civilization and social changes in the twentieth-century Poland.
Keywords: memoirs; memoir writing competitions; biographical method; document; literature; folk literature; Polish folk history
DOI: 10.18318/td.2024.2.2
Source：TEKSTY DRUGIE
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