„Niech bije nieprzyjaciela, a nie własne dziecko”. Badanie kulturowej historii dzieciństwa w pamiętnikach polskich emigrantów do Francji i Ameryki Południowej
“Let Him Beat the Enemy, not His Own Child”: Cultural History of Childhood in Memoirs of Polish Emigrants to France and South America Submitted to a Competition of the Institute of Social Economy in Warsaw

Summary/Abstract: The article analyzes the ways of describing childhood in memoirs submittedto a competition of the Institute of Social Economy in 1936, included in the postcompetitionvolumes with writings of emigrants to France and South America. The textforegrounds the limitations to depicting one’s childhood and presents directions forseeking alternative models of description. With examples, the author studies how thecompetition memoirs portray childhood. The author focuses on the issues of happiness,childhood boundaries, family, models of parenting children, school, and violence. Theemigrants’ competition memoirs show that childhood perception changes over thecourse of life and from generation to generation. However, as tools to record one’smemory, the memoirs transmit emotions and difficult experiences that can be relivedin the writing process.

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